The Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 is one of the largest and most powerful steam locomotives ever built. Part of the Big Boy class, it was constructed in the early 1940s by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) to haul heavy freight over steep grades in the Western U.S., especially in the Wasatch Mountains. These locomotives are huge, measuring over 132 feet long and weighing around 1.2 million pounds.
Big Boy 4014 was retired from service in 1961, but in 2013, Union Pacific reacquired and restored it. Today, 4014 is fully operational and runs on special excursions, thrilling train enthusiasts with massive size and power. Its restoration was a significant feat, marking the return of one of the most iconic steam locomotives in history.
The Big Boy series, including 4014, represents the peak of steam locomotive technology and the golden age of railroading in the U.S.
Bear dogs, or Amphicyonidae, were representatives of an extinct family of carnivorous mammals that lived during the Miocene Epoch. They possessed peculiar features because they combined some aspects of modern bears and dogs; hence, this name was attached to them. Fossils of bear dogs were found in parts of the world; one is Barstow Fossil Beds in California, which is also an important center for paleontologists studying the ancient ecosystems of North America.
Physical Characteristics:
Size: They were very varied in size, from the smallest, which was about the size of modern foxes, to the largest, which rivaled grizzly bears in size and strength.
Appearance: Bear-like bodies, but with powerful jaws and sharp teeth adapted for hunting, while their legs were longer and more dog-like in structure, running and chasing their prey.
Diet: These were carnivorous animals that probably preyed upon smaller mammals and did so perhaps by ambush and endurance hunting, just like the big cats or wolves of today do.
Barstow Fossil Beds: These fossil beds, if situated within the Mojave Desert, have yielded a wide variety of prehistoric animal remains, including those of bear dogs. This is a formerly much more lush environment with forests, rivers, and wetlands that support diverse wildlife.
Miocene Environment: When bear dogs ranged into the Barstow area, it was a temperate region teeming with ancient species such as early horses, camels, rhinos, and mastodons. Bear dogs were likely top predators in this ecosystem.
Evolution: The various fossil discoveries in Barstow will help scientists trace the evolution of flesh-eating mammals. The bear dogs belonged to the early lineage that gave rise to present-day bears, dogs, and all other large predators.
Extinction: Bear dogs flourished for millions of years but died out toward the end of the Miocene Epoch. Their extinction may be related to climate changes and competition with other carnivores, ancestors of modern cats and wolves, which were better adapted to changing environmental conditions.
Importance of the Barstow Fossil Discoveries:
Fossils like bear dogs found around Barstow give rare glimpses into an ancient world. Such finds enable paleontologists to reconstruct the ancient ecosystems of North America and learn more about how animal species, including early carnivores, adapted and evolved.
The bear dog fossils from near Barstow point to the emergence of very diversified ecosystems in which the bear dogs were among the top predators of their time. Their fossils are an important determinant that leads to unraveling their biology and the environment to which they belonged millions of years ago.
The Red Hill Cinder Mine is an active volcanic site in the Coso Volcanic Field where red and black cinders are extracted from a cinder cone. What makes this spot so unique, however, is volcanic bombs that have been thrown out during previous eruptions-large pieces of solidified lava. These bombs have been picked up and placed around the mining company’s office buildings.
Red Hill is one of the youngest volcanic formations in the area, with an estimated age of less than 10,000 years. A small flank eruption on the cone could have occurred within the last 1,000 years. If you drive south down Highway 395, you can see the small crater from that eruption on the northwest side of the cone.
CEMEX currently mines the Red Hill Quarry on the south flank of the cinder cone, crushing the volcanic rock into scoria for use in road construction and the manufacture of cinder blocks. Larger pieces of the rock are also used for landscaping.
A cloaca is an opening in some animals, like birds, reptiles, and amphibians, where the digestive, urinary, and reproductive systems come together. It’s like a multi-purpose exit, handling waste and reproduction. In most mammals, these functions are separated into different exits, but in animals with a cloaca, everything comes out of the same spot.
