Railfanning the Big Boy

Wow, was it fun to see the Union Pacific Big Boy 1440, as it chugged though Missouri in July.

The “Big Boy” steam engines were built in the 1940s in order to haul incredibly heavy loads around (including across the Rocky Mountains) for the war effort. These engines weighed 1.2 million pounds. Eight of these crazy-huge locomotives still exist, and Union Pacific’s restored Big Boy 1440 is the only one that runs. So they take it around the country every so often for publicity purposes.

Its 2026 tour is over, but you can find tons of YouTubes showing it at various points on its journey. I decided to add my little video (belatedly) to the fray. I think I was the only person videoing it in Bonnots Mill.

Railfanning is a thing; I’ve blogged about it before. A lot of railfans seem to video every train they see. I’m not that nutty about it, but I couldn’t help myself once I realized the massive train would be crossing the little trestle that crosses the drive connecting Bonnots Mill’s Old Mill Road and Osage County Road 416.

At first, Sue and I were had thought of seeing it at Morrison, or Gasconade, or Chamois. But those seemed like they might be rather crowded. Also, they were farther away.

Bonnots Mill turned out to be a good choice for us. There weren’t too many people gathered to see the train go by; I think they were all more or less locals. Several of the “advanced case” railfanners were driving along with the train’s progress, stopping here and there to watch it go by again and again. But they were absent from Bonnots Bill.

But Bonnots Mill is off the beaten path. If you were a railfanner following the Big Boy along west US 50, a detour to Bonnots Mill is about 6 miles (one way) from Loose Creek, or 11 from Linn. With that detour, you’d miss the arrival of Big Boy at its majestic entrance in Jeff City!

So we opted to view it at a tiny, historic town, where it would blow past us in less than a minute.

Unbeknown to us, Big Boy was delayed from its published schedule; after departing St. Louis, it was only scheduled to stop for about 15 minutes in Hermann, then arrive at Jeff City directly after that. But it made two unscheduled stops before Hermann: one at the Transportation Museum in St. Louis (where there’s another Big Boy to see), and one in Washington, Missouri.

So we got to Bonnots Mill about fifteen minutes before we thought it could arrive. Then we waited quite a while, wondering what the holdup was. How long did it take to get from Hermann to Bonnots Mill? Should’ve been a half hour, at most, right? But there was no way to know; no cell service in Bonnots Mill.

So we, and the other folks who showed up, waited patiently. Boy was it hot! But we had fun poking around, walking along the gravel road, looking at flowers and roadside weeds, wondering if Krautman’s Korner will ever be used for anything again, wondering if the Hotel Dauphine is getting much business.

Bonnots Mill has so much potential as a quaint getaway, or a stop along a Harley poker-run trail, or maybe a place to hold business retreats. Being right on the Osage River, where it joins the Missouri, it would be a good place for a boating or fishing outfitter. There’s a public river access nearby. I’ve blogged about the Bonnots Mill fall church supper before. But unfortunately, much of the historic downtown is deteriorating. Crumbling.

Anyway, we’ve gone out of our way to see these historic trains before. Like in 2011, when we saw Union Pacific 488 come through. That’s a smaller train, but it was incredibly impressive. In 2021, we saw the Big Boy 1440 as it came through Osage City, then we visited it in Jefferson City, where it made an official stop. The next day, we watched it chug through nearby Cole Junction, where my great-grandpa Renner used to work for the Missouri Pacific Railroad.

So this year, after spending a night in the railyards near the State Capitol, on the morning of July 21, Big Boy left Jefferson City with a whole bunch of LOUD hoots of its horn. It echoed all over town. It made me think about the days when steam engine horns filled the air of this town regularly, and people rode trains all the time.

If you get a chance to see one of these vintage locomotives, go see it, even if you only see it as it chugs by. I know you’ll find it compelling.

Jar of Goodness 8.9.26: Swami Sarvapriyananda and Vedanta

. . . The weekly virtual “gratitude jar.”

This week, I’m expressing thanks for Swami Sarvapriyananda and for the wisdom of Vedanta.

I know, I know . . . “who he?” Around here in Jeff City, this is like having green plaid skin. But I encourage you to check this out. Look on YouTube for the Vedanta Society of New York, where you can hear many of his lectures. I’m providing some links at the end.

First, Swami Sarvapriyananda is the spiritual leader of the Vedanta Society of New York, a Hindu religious congregation that dates back to 1894, when it was founded by the incredibly influential Swami Vivekananda, who is credited with being the earliest, most influential Hindu spiritual leader to travel to the Western world. Vivekananda (1863–1902) famously spoke at the 1893 Parliament of the World’s Religions in Chicago, introducing Hinduism spirituality and philosophy and advocating for universal religious tolerance and acceptance. He also played a crucial role in the rise of Indian nationalism.

Vivekananda was an apostle of his teacher, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836–1886), who was a proponent of a philosophical branch of Hinduism called Advaita Vedanta, or nondual Vedanta. I’m not going to go into a long discussion about what it’s about. Most Americans don’t know the first thing about Hindu spirituality or philosophy, and it’s not my place to try to explain everything. Let’s just say, one of its key insights is that all religions will “get you there.” It doesn’t speak ill of any religion. How refreshing.

Indeed, one of the beautiful things about the so-called polytheistic religion is that it permits every person to cherish and worship her or his own deity, while everyone understands that there is a higher Reality that supersedes our human conceptions of deities. They are all avatars of the Eternal, the One. If I’m understanding this correctly, this makes a lot of sense to me. Also, this inclusive view of theistic religions tends to lead you toward tolerance and appreciation for the diversity of religions across the world and through the ages.

Anyway, I’ve been appreciating Swami Sarvapriyananda’s talks on YouTube. He’s an excellent interpreter of a lot of complex and simple concepts and wisdom. He has five thousand years of scriptures and philosophy to build on. He’s incredibly learned, but he’s charismatic and has a lovely, humble sense of humor.

I’ll wrap this up soon. I just mainly wanted to share him with you. I’ve had a rough time the past few years, and there have been plenty of nights when I have trouble sleeping. It helps a lot just to listen to him. Midnight, 2 a.m., 4, 6 . . . When it seems everything’s a mess, taking that enormous, universal view helps take the edge off.

One of the big images of Advaita Vedanta is that our various individual selves are all part of the All That Is, the way that every wave is part of the ocean. We can’t be separate from it. It is in and through us. The Infinite Eternal can’t be defined objectively; as soon as you put a label on it, you’ve objectified it, placed a definition and a fence around it. And it’s no longer infinite and eternal.

I hope I’m getting this right, because I’d hate to misrepresent this great tradition to you.

No one likes proselytizers. So now it’s time for some links to YouTube videos.

“Vedanta in Five Parables” is a delightful telling of five “greatest hits” stories that explain key concepts of Vedanta. It’s simply fun. Swami Sarvapriyananda once taught at a children’s school, and it shows in his storytelling.

“What Is Vedanta?” is exactly what it sounds like. After you’ve listened to the parables, this is a more in-depth discussion.

“Vedanta in America” is a fascinating lecture about how Hinduism has influenced American thought since Emerson, Thoreau, and Whitman. Gives some of the history of Swami Vivekananda’s influential visits to America in the late 1800s and early 1900s./

“Tat Tvam Asi (That Thou Art)” explains this famous phrase of Advaita Vedanta. It helped me to understand the difference between this ancient philosophical tradition and the embarrassing New Age pseudo-Hinduism that misinterpreted this concept as “I am God.”

Julie's Granola

Yes, it’s precious to announce this as my own recipe, since I openly adapt it from Carol Gelles, 1,000 Vegetarian Recipes. I think it’s an unspoken truism that any granola recipe is intended to be altered to fit what you have on hand, and what the saveur du jour happens to be. But I’ve tweaked it enough that it’s pretty much my own. But thank you, Ms. Gelles (or Carol, if I may).

A few ingredients notes: I like to use genuine sweetened carob chips. These days you have to hunt for them, because last time I looked, I couldn’t even get it at our local health foods store. Whaaaaaat—? Yes. But I seriously like carob chips in my granola, muffins, granola snack bars, and so on. I’m not going to try to make “chocolate” frosting, cake, or brownies out of it. But as a flavorful ingredient used like raisins or blueberries, they’re really quite nice. Be sure to used sweetened carob chips.

Cashew pieces: I’ve been buying raw cashew halves and pieces in a bag at the international store. Look for Swad brand, in the India aisle. Since childhood, I disliked cashews, but those were always Planter’s roasted and salted cashews. But when you them raw, you can toast them yourself, and season or not. Much more delicious.

And substitute stuff as you like. Just keep the overall quantities about the same: you need enough liquid-stuff to moisten enough for everything to get a little coated with the oat bran, wheat germ, brown sugar stuff. Also, the original recipe called for raisins. You could swap craisins or other dried fruits, nuts, etc. See notes after the recipe for more tips.

• 3 T butter
• ⅓ cup brown sugar (packed)
• 1½ to 2 T juice (apple, orange)
• 2 c. plain, rolled oats
• ⅓ c. sunflower seeds (or pumpkin seeds)
• ½ cup wheat germ (I use Kretschmar’s toasted wheat germ)
• ½ cup oat bran
• ⅓ cup raw cashew halves and pieces (or other nuts)
• powdered cinnamon (to taste)
• ⅓ cup sweetened carob chips (or chocolate chips)

Preheat oven to 350°F. (If your oven runs hot, set it at 325.)

Spray a 9-x-13-inch baking pan with Pam (Pyrex casserole dish is good). In a microwave, melt the butter, then stir in the brown sugar and juice until dissolved.

In a big mixing bowl, combine all the rest of the ingredients (except for the carob or chocolate chips, or raisins or any other dried fruit you might use). Pour the liquid ingredients over the mixture in the bowl and toss to get everything moistened. (Texture: you don’t want it soggy; if it seems too dry, you can add a little honey.)

Spread the granola mixture into the prepared baking pan and spread evenly. Bake, stirring and checking often, until dryish. The edges will brown first. Don’t let it burn.

Take it out; while it’s still hot, sprinkle cinnamon and the carob (or chocolate) chips over the top. The chips should melt a little bit, which is good. When it cools further, stir in any dried fruits you’re using.

Let it cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Tips:

• I suggest adding raisins or dried fruits after baking to avoid them burning. Burnt raisins are evil. I like chopped dried apricots, chopped dried, sweetened pineapple chunks, dates, craisins, etc.
• Any kind of nuts or seeds are a great addition; the original recipe calls for 3 T. sesame seeds, but I usually don’t keep those on hand, and they go rancid quickly. But I keep sunflower seeds and pumpkins seeds in the freezer; they’re right next to the sweetened carob chips!
• Granola: you know what to do. Sprinkle on yogurt with fresh fruits. Eat some out of hand as a snack. Eat it with milk as a dry cereal, or mix it in with other dry cereals. Sprinkle some on ice cream. This would be a nice garnish of a cold fruit soup or a fruit smoothie. And so on.