Round Robin - Madame Queen

This is my first week participating in the Round Robin of Photographs. I got here via the Nekkid Lizards (how many lizards do you know that wear clothes?) and because of the topic.

Trains. My husband loves trains. Me? Not so much. But I love my husband. I also just happen to have some photos of a really cool train move.

The "Madame Queen" is an AT&SF 5000. She was the prototype and was built in 1930, converted from coal to fuel-oil in 1940 and was retired in 1953. She has been on display in Amarillo, TX since 1957.

In 2005, the City of Amarillo and the Railroad Artifacts Preservation Society arranged to have her moved to a permanent display by Messer Construction of Hereford, TX. This move was filmed by the History Channel as part of their MegaMovers series.

Here are some pictures of the move.

Below is my favorite picture. It shows how they "Leapfrogged" the track. The crew from Messer Construction would lay a section of track on the street, they would move the Queen down the track, pick up the track behind her, move it in front of her and so on. Just amazing. The Queen did not move under her own power but with the assistance of some heavy duty construction equipment. No trains were damaged in the making of this blog. Good job, guys!