As Promised: Marsha Diane Arnold Interview About Big Boy 4014

Marsha Diane Arnold

A recent review of the remarkable nonfiction picture book, BIG BOY 4014, can be read, HERE. My remarks and those of many other reviewers of this new book are in praise of this welcome addition to our shelves. Marsha Diane Arnold has joined us  for an interview about a past release, HERE, and I'm delighted that she found time to share her thoughts and insights again.

Arnold's picture books often involve complex real world issues (Night Light Pollution, Rain Forest Threats), subtly revealing her grasp of  important issues and subject matter through gently-told fictional stories. Her characters and lyrical language engage readers with emotional and relationship truths while revealing factual content. In this case, though, she took on the challenging  commitment to write a fully nonfiction account about a mechanical object. In my review I pointed out several ways in which she achieved that, spinning a graceful balance between factual content and figurative language that allows readers to imagine with her what a compelling massive locomotive engine might dream or think or feel, if it could. I'm excited to share with you the responses she so kindly shared.

 

SLEEPING BEAR PRESS,  May 1, 2025

SB: Marsha Diane Arnold, welcome back to talk about your new book! Just as I find layers and insights throughout your wonderful picture books, your responses to past questions have revealed layers within your complex writing life. I’m excited to see what you have to say about this newest picture book, BIG BOY 4014. Congratulations on the MAY 1, 2025 release!

The BIG BOY 4014  page on your website notes your lifelong affection for trains. I have the same nostalgic connection to hearing  those distant whistles or riding on a highway alongside a rolling train. We’d count cars and wait eagerly for the man in the caboose to “beat us” and wave, sometimes even waving a big red handkerchief. A caboose is rarely staffed these days, but I think of those caboose workers every time I see a train. 

You mentioned reading about the restoration project and becoming eager to learn more. Can you share a bit about how your investigative journey began?

MDA: Thank you for having me on your blog again, Sandy! 

That journey began quite a while ago. It’s been four years since I began the first messy drafts of Big Boy 4014 and The Steam Team! Plus, my husband often jokes about my busy, idea-filled mind: “There’s a lot of trains running through that station!”  (A fitting metaphor.) 

Remembering exactly where I started is a bit of a challenge now, but I do recall lots of research – reading, watching videos, and studying train history. Trains magazine, the premier publication for railroads, was especially helpful. It’s been around since 1940 and, until recently, was owned by Kalmbach Media. One of the issues I relied on was their 2019 special collector’s edition, Big Boy Back In Steam. I also bought two DVDs about Big Boy published by Trains, as well as their comprehensive book Union Pacific’s Big Boys: The complete story from history to restoration. 

I joined a few Big Boy 4014 groups on Facebook as well. That turned out to be both valuable and fun. The railfans there were most gracious in answering my questions. Some of them know locomotives by number - and even by horn sequence! They are passionate about train history and engineering.

SB: I've known a few train fans (fan-atics) in my time, and they are treasuries of information as well as eager to recruit new fans. Since reading your new book I've checked out multiple youtube and other video clips and I find them both exciting and mesmerizing! 

You are notable for your personal travels to the locations/subjects of your books. You certainly realized before arriving that BIG BOY 4014 would be impressive. Can you share any of your first reactions and impressions as you physically arrived at the actual locomotive? 

MDA: What I remember is the excitement – not just mine, but everyone’s. Union Pacific employees were there working. Visitors from near and far had come. All for Big Boy 4014. It gave me goosebumps! 

But before the public viewing, before Big Boy pulled into Omaha from Council Bluffs, Iowa, Robynn Tysver, UP Communications Manager, met me at UP’s Home Plate. That’s where the public viewing was to take place, right next to Charles Schwab Field during the College World Series. There was lots of activity in Omaha that June day in 2023! Robynn and a couple of others called me over to their utility cart and verified I’d be able to ride with engineer Ed Dickens from a nearby crossing into Home Plate. We headed out to meet Big Boy at a spot near Council Bluffs. Big Boy rumbled in and stopped…just for me! I met Ed and climbed aboard for the ride of a lifetime. Not many have the honor of riding in that beautiful cab with Ed Dickens at the wheel.

Here are a couple of videos from that Omaha adventure. The first shows my excitement. The second shows my husband…who is maybe not quite as excited. 

 CLIP OF MARSHA being excited at upcoming ride on BIG BOY 4014, HERE.

CLIP OF FRED, Marsha's husband/driver, not quite as thrilled, HERE. 

SB: What a moment that must have been! By the time you arrived in person, the project was complete and in operation, right? How thrilling for you, and Fred's dry humor comes through clearly- he's certainly a loyal supporter of you, if not of trains! 

Now, again tapping into your first reactions, will you share a bit about your first thoughts when seeing Adam Gustavson’s illustrations?

MDA: First, I smiled - ear to ear. Then I felt thankful. Thankful that Sleeping Bear Press had not only found Adam Gustavson, but had convinced him to bring Big Boy 4014 to life through his art.

I already knew Adam was a brilliant illustrator, but the detail and passion he put into the Big Boy illustrations were beyond anything I imagined. He captured her movement and her power. You can tell Adam did his research, but you can also tell he loved the subject.  

SB:  I really enjoyed reading your joint interview with Adam on Marie Marshall's blog, THE PICTURE BOOK BUZZ. I urge everyone to read it, HERE.

Other reviews (all glowing, and well-deserved) have commented on the ways your words and Gustavson’s illustrations produce a sense of the locomotive roaring right off the pages. I agree entirely. Did this project cause you to feel differently about trains than before you began? If so, how so?

MDA: After meeting Chief Engineer Ed Dickens and chatting with many passionate railfans on Facebook, I did feel differently. I’ve always loved trains and respected the people who worked on them - like my uncle Dale, a machinist for the Denver and Rio Grande Western, who worked in the roundhouse in Alamosa, Colorado - but after writing Big Boy 4014, my respect grew even deeper.  The depth of others’ knowledge and their love of train lore, history, and tradition really touched me.

SB: I have no doubt that your work on this book did not disappoint those folks. You (and Adam) certainly conveyed your own love and respect as well as giving due credit to the team that brought BIG BOY 4014 back to life on the tracks, not just in the pages of a book. Congratulations on that, and on dedicating the book to rail fans everywhere. 

The success of your prior picture books will draw even more readers and fans for this new offering, but it is also distinctly different from those. For example, several of your titles have dealt with aspects of nature and conservation. Have you noticed or do you anticipate a difference in the ages/interests of audiences at events related to this book? I am certain that you and I are not the only adults with a deep affection for trains and train lore.

MDA: I’m certain of that too, Sandy. Just look at all the model train lovers around the world - and the hundreds of thousands of people who come out to see Big Boy 4014 on her excursion tours! In 2019 alone, it’s estimated that more than one million people saw her during the tours – people of all ages.

I’ve had other picture books, like The Pumpkin Runner, that have been loved by readers across generations. I believe Big Boy 4014 And The Steam Team will be such a book. I’ve already heard from adult railfans - and railfans-to-be – who’ve pre-ordered copies for themselves or to share with family. 

The cover illustration is especially striking. It has the show-stopping presence of a coffee table book for adults, but is designed to be lifted and explored by little hands.

SB: The visual appeal of this book is unquestionable. 

There are so many ways that I admire your use of writing craft in this work (onomatopoeia, figurative phrasing, repetition, purposeful shifts in sentence length, word choice and many more). Can you share a bit about your process of blending love with research on the page? Did you throw a draft down and then go back to rephrase and polish? Did you refine from the first stages? The end result in this work never misses a beat, so I’d love to know if it always carried that pace and rhythm from the start. 

MDA: Thank you, Sandy. That means a lot!

A story idea usually lives in my mind for some time before I take pen to paper. My first drafts begin as just a few phrases – a sprinkling of words and impressions. I may write down things I’m not sure are true and go back later to do research. I also ask myself a lot of questions along the way. 

With Big Boy 4014 And The Steam Team, I knew I wanted the Big Boy story to be more than non-fiction. I believe most things in the world are sentient and I wanted my reader to relate emotionally to Big Boy 4014 – not just admire her size and power. How could I walk that line between fact and feeling? Thank goodness for that wonderful, walking the line word: “if.” 

These are some of the first “sprinklings” I wrote, straight from a messy draft, dated 8-30-21. I don’t always finish sentences in the beginning. I may just know the rhythm – “da DA da DA da Da” kind of thing. I don’t know what the entire sentence will be. But I may have a phrase I want to use, so down it goes. A phrase like “If steam locomotives could dream.”

If steam locomotives could dream, this one would be chugging up the Wasatch Mountains. 

If steam locomotives could dream, this one…the largest in the world…would be …..

If steam locomotives could dream, this one…Big Boy 4014…would be….

But now he sat cold, one of 25 brothers, one of 8 saved from the scrap heap. Half a mile from the tracks.

10 years

30 years

50 years

Cobwebs entwined his wheels. 

Pine needles fell on his ???cab??? top.

His cab was rusting (Be sure I congratulate team that kept him as good as possible in back matter.)

You can see that I made a note to myself, even then, to thank the volunteers at the RailGiants Train Museum in Pomona, who did their best to keep Big Boy in good condition. I wanted to honor and be respectful of all their work, but I also wanted the story’s emotional arc to begin with the sense of Big Boy longing to be back on the tracks.

And yes, that rhythm you mentioned was there early on, but it was in my mind first. Then I grabbed the lines and wrote them down. Then they deepened and expanded.

SB: Well, that was truly a bonus response- a sort of mini-master-class! Thank you! and the "notes to self" are something I do, too, because it is so easy to let important things slip through in the lengthy writing process. Which lads me to this...

I enjoy asking nonfiction writers about the fascinating factoids that didn’t make it into the book, ones you found in research but now live rent-free in your head!

MDA: There’s always so much research and, in the end, almost all of it must be pared down to those bits that best serve the story being written. I did quite a bit of research about the building of the transcontinental railroad and the golden spike, but most of that still lives in my research files. 

And then there are those seven other Big Boy locomotives that were spared from the scrapheap. Six of them were placed in outdoor museums and two are indoors. Each one has a fascinating story of how it was moved to its current home. No one undertakes moving a 1.2-million-pound steam locomotive lightly. Each was saved, moved, and preserved by people who cared, people who loved what these mighty machines represent.

 SB: I'd love to think that your account of BIG BOY 41014 and the Steam Team will urge the curators of the remaining treasures to activate local historians to make booklets or other user-friendly accounts and share them widely. 

Speaking of spreading the word and sharing stories, do you have events upcoming?  Are there related materials available for kids, teachers, or enthusiasts you’d like to mention? 

MDA: Mostly I’ll be visiting blogs like yours, around the web, to share about Big Boy 4014 And The Steam Team. I’ll be posting the links on my Facebook and Instagram pages. Sleeping Bear Press has a wonderful sales team and several railroad museums have already ordered copies. 

And yes – there will be related materials! There will be a Teacher’s Guide for Big Boy 4014 And The Steam Team. I was hoping it would be available by May 1^st, but it’s taking a bit longer. It will definitely be ready for everyone by the start of school in August or September!

SB: I urge readers here to check out your website, too, where you have such interesting nuggets of background about your many books. It's like getting a personal book talk about each, right from the source!

Are there upcoming works you can discuss or are things still at the top-secret stage?

MDA: I love that you understand some story ideas need to stay top-secret for a while, Sandy. 

I do have three ideas currently at the forefront. Each revolves around my love for the natural world and wildlife. There are also manuscripts my editor has recently sent out, but no homes have been found for them yet. Lots of very nice rejections, though. 

One of those is about an unusual partnership, drawn from real behaviors in the wild. I’d hoped it could serve as a model for those of us with differences finding ways to work together. I love the story, as does my agent, but it hasn’t found the perfect home yet. Time to let it rest for a while and turn to those three new projects. Two have been living in my head for years and one is just now taking shape. And so, the writing journey continues.

SB: Well, I'm excited but not surprised that you have several ideas/works in progress, and that they are richly layered with the natural world, our environment, and relationships of complexity. I will say that I'm shocked that you have anything out on submission that has not been snatched up, but the business side of things is all about finding the just-right fit for that just-right book. Not unlike buying a new home- even the one you thought was perfect but "gets away" may lead you right to the one that was meant for you all along. 

My only regret is that a delay in getting these underway means a delay in getting a chance to read them and share them here. 

Considering your many projects at various stages, your busy life with family, and keeping Fred on the road, I'm deeply grateful that you would take the time to share your answers to my questions. As always, your responses are expansive and inspiring. I (and readers and railfans) thank you for this towering, powerful new nonfiction picture book, and for sharing your thoughts and back-stories about it. Here's to celebrating and sustaining what matters.

Protests: What a Leader Looks Like

In the midst of nonstop and heartrending news about violence, racism, hate-filled social media rants, (and some so-called traditional news outlets), I find myself desperate for concrete steps I can take to regain hope for a better future. At a recent environmental and educational conference, I shared several nonfiction picture books about community activism, empowerment, and creativity in the face of desperate (and depressing) circumstances. 
My "formative years" (teens and college) encompassed an era of war protests, a budding save-the earth movement, and activism to establish women's equal rights. It's no accident that this same era generated a mainstream rebirth of folk music. Some were rooted in centuries past, some rejuvenated music and lyrics from the thirties' depression era, and some impressive original music emerged.  
The television program, Hootenanny, is only one of the many successful weekly programs that drew families together, bolstered spirits, and developed a common vocabulary of community.

Bloomsbury Books, 2017

Pete Seeger was an icon of that era, and whether or not you are familiar with him, I urge you to click and explore the remarkable impact he had on music and on social change. I'm overdue to share thoughts about an award-winning biographic picture book about him, STAND UP AND SING! Pete Seeger, Folk Music and the Path to Justice.  Written by Susanna Reich and illustrated by Adam Gustavson, with a touchingly personal  forward by Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul, and Mary).
The text deserves attention and praise for its lyrical prose, for the storytelling quality of nonfiction narration, and for the rhythm that propels it forward. All are traits that made Pete's singing such a success. The illustrations also mirror the remarkable quality of Pete's music, pairing artistic brilliance with homey simplicity. Each double spread presents a painterly scene with revealing details and natural frame, while the facing page uses seemingly rough pencil sketches to contrast settings and add informative detail to the text, especially for younger readers. 
As with any important nonfiction picture book, back matter includes helpful author notes, Pete Seeger quotes and citations, and a list of some of his recordings. The quotations noted appear throughout the text, lifting an already wonderful read aloud into the music of his soul:

"When one person taps out a beat...[or]three people discover a harmony...or a crowd joins in on a chorus as though to raise the ceiling a few feet higher, then they also know there is hope for the world."
This biography shares the beneficial opportunities for academic connections with the three biographies I featured in the last post, HERE, in high level reading applications and also in content area studies. Instead I will honor my thoughts and heart to reflect another use for this wonderful book.
My original intent was to elaborate on educational examples in this review. Recent mass shootings couple with the sad fact that as many or more were shot, injured, and killed in separate events in the same weekend in Chicago. It is inexcusable that little or nothing appears about that in the news. And perhaps the saddest statement about our current societal dysfunction is that I don't need to specify which weekend because these reports could be nearly ANY weekend in 2019. That state of affairs pushes me to make other observations, about the education of our souls.
Twentieth century American history can be explored through folk music, singers, song lyrics, protest movements (from labor to equal rights to economic rights and many more issues), and shifts in political power. Let music lead the way to wider and deeper understanding of the history that led us to today.
And about that Peter Yarrow forward. Of the many moving lines he wrote, the one I return to  now, as the news assaults me and burrows into my soul, erodes my spirit, and suggests the futility of protest or action, one line stands out:
"In these times there is so much that divides us, so much greed, narcissism, and other terrible threats to the dream of creating a caring, just, and peaceful society-- and to the survival of our planet. What Pete taught us is how to keep on keepin' on, how to keep on singing, how to not become cynical, and how to turn challenge and adversity into greater determination and love for one another. That was Pete."
And that, I choose to believe, can and should be us. Once again, this is a picture book that has a place and a ROLE in all lives, of any age. May we all stand up and sing, stand together, and change the world.
From Pete and Peter, let us take to heart their words of inspiration, comfort, and follow their  charge to action. 

Never Too Soon for Baseball... or Too Late!

All it takes is a few days of mild January weather and some media buzz about the Baseball Hall of Fame votes and I can't resist sharing a title that was simmering on the back burner waiting for "real" spring. I was especially motivated to spread the word about this title now by the news note that  the Baseball Veterans Committee approved White, Ruppert and O’Day (a player, an owner, and an umpire)  for Hall of Fame Posthumous induction.

Lee & Low Books, Inc 2012

So, for 2014, may I offer for your consideration... ta-da!
SILENT STAR: THE STORY OF DEAF MAJOR LEAGUER WILLIAM HOY, by Bill Wise, illustrated by Adam Gustavson. 
Baseball is a game of statistics, so let's start with notes from the afterward:
 "Of the tens of thousands of players who have made careers in major league baseball, William Ellsworth "Dummy" Hoy* (1862-1961) ranks in the top twenty-five in all-time career statistics: stolen bases, outfielder assists, double-plays by an outfielder." 
His stats continue in this informative section, and his accomplishments continue to amaze, standing up after nearly a century of competition. He was inducted in the Ohio Baseball hall of Fame in 1992 and the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 2003. In The Sporting News in 1961 (at the time of his death) Pat Harmon wrote, "His record was remarkable. In black and white, it stands with the best of all time."

Fifty-one years later, his numbers stand tall at the top of baseball's best. And yet, in this game of statistics, this sport of numbers and career records, he is not in the Baseball Hall of Fame- yet.

He was, however, among the first five people entered into the American Athletic Association of the Deaf's Hall of Fame. Although born with the ability to hear, William nearly died of meningitis at the age of three. When he recovered, the high fever left him unable to hear well enough to understand speech so he never developed the ability to speak intelligibly.

At age ten when he  attended a school for the deaf he learned to sign and finally made friends. Mostly, he played and loved baseball. He ate, slept, and dreamed baseball, even though the only deaf major leaguer at the time was a pitcher and William was an outfielder. 

The excerpts and quotations above make it clear Hoy did not settle for dreams deferred. His is a story waiting for a groundswell of growing awareness, possibly fueled by social media and a kids' letter-writing campaign. When the sports writers vote next year, again likely snubbing the steroid-tainted candidates, the name William "Dummy" Hoy should make its way into the discussion, guaranteeing that he will finally get full recognition for accomplishing his baseball dreams. 

Read some of the many outstanding Kirkus and Goodreads reviews of this book.

**The author points out that calling someone who was unable to speak "dumb" was conventional at that time, and Hoy preferred the nickname "Dummy" to his own name.

The name of last week's giveaway winner can be found here.