In an old railroad book from my youth, The Illustrated Encyclopedia of North American Locomotives by Brian Hollingsworth, one locomotive featured always caught my attention. It is a locomotive built late in the steam age (1941) and found on page 136. This is Union Pacific’s Big Boy 4-8-8-4.

The last sentence about Union Pacific’s Goliath reads, “Six are preserved at widely-spread locations from California to New Hampshire, but none are operable”.

None were operable until 2019 when that California Big Boy, No. 4014, was restored by Union Pacific’s Steam Shop to work the high iron again.

And I was not going to miss the first visit of the world’s largest steam locomotive to Northern California.

Although 4014 was on static display in Pomona, California, the Big Boys were designed as a freight locomotive to tackle the Wasatch Mountains between Cheyenne, Wyoming and Ogden, Utah.

I planned to see the steam Goliath at Oroville Depot where the locomotive would be making a 30 minute whistle stop after threading its way through Feather River Canyon from Portola.

Now there was just one problem: heat. Intense heat. The forecast high for Oroville was 112! Now that’s way too hot for a coastal inhabitant like me who had just spent a week in the high Arctic!

I figured while it was hot just standing in the shade waiting for 4014, it was even hotter for the fireman and engineer in the cab.

Big Boy was scheduled to pull into Oroville Depot at 2:15, right at the hottest part of the day.

Luckily I found a parking spot under a shady tree. Even though it was a Thursday afternoon, I knew there would be a large turnout to see the first time a Big Boy pulled into Oroville.

As I walked up to the depot, there were more and more people lounging or languishing in the shade. I had arrived about an hour early and we all waited in anticipation for the roar of the whistle announcing the arrival of the visitor from the eastern high plains.

I took up a position across from the depot and a few minutes before 2:15 we could hear the whistle down the track which made the gathered crowd erupt in a cheer. The crowds on either side of the tracks leaned in, waiting for their first view or picture of No. 4014.

Through the sea of people I first saw 4014 decked out with the Golden State flag. Big Boy was back in California, under her own power.

In my featured sketch, the crowds that turned out to see Big Boy were a big part of the story for me. So while 4014 is in the background, the locomotive is obscured by people.

While 4014 was on public display in Roseville, two days later, I had Ed Dickens, engineer and head of Union Pacific’s Steam Program, sign my sketch. He wrote “Big Boy” under his name just as he does every morning on 4014’s smoke box.

The other two signatures are of the firemen. Both the engineer and fireman work as a team to propel Big Boy down the high iron.

On my 18 day Scandinavian trip to Norway, Svalbard, and Denmark I brought three sketchbooks (small, medium, and large.) Okay the large was not impressively large.

My prediction at the start of the trip was that if I brought smaller journals I would sketch more (point and shoot journals!)

My prediction proved correct. I sketched 29 sketches in my small sketchbook, 29 in my medium, and 14 in my large sketchbook (although some of the sketches cover two pages).

This trip proved to be very sketchy for me as I averaged four sketches per day for a grand total of 72 sketches over 18 days!

Some of this may have to do with the amount of downtime on my seven day cruise. But it is equally true that I was very inspired to sketch more of the impressive sights I found before me.

There are 675,000 bicycles (including tricycles) in the city of Copenhagen and just 120,000 automobiles. Bikes outnumber cars by a 5 to 1 ratio.

There are bikes everywhere. Bike lanes in every street. According to WIRED magazine, 62% of Copenhageners ride bikes to school or work. 65% of children ride their bikes to school. Nine out of ten people own a bike.

It was refreshing to see a city with a great public transportation system with buses, metro, and regional rail that could get you anywhere.

One of the quicker ways to get around the city’s streets is on two or sometimes three wheels. There are designated bike lanes everywhere. As a pedestrian you had to be careful not to wander into the bike lanes and look like a clueless tourist.

As a Californian driver I appreciated that cyclists always used their hand signals in Copenhagen to indicate where and what they were about to do, including coming to a sudden stop.

Finding a motorist using their turn signals in the Bay Area is as rare as seeing snow in San Francisco!

In the Latin District I wanted to ascend the Round Tower to take in the panoramic views of Copenhagen.

The red brick tower was built in 1642 as Europe’s first and oldest observatory.

But it was about an hour before the tower was open and so I found a bench and sketched the tower (featured sketch).

It was a little challenging to get the cylindrical perspective correct. This is why the pencil sketch is so important before you add any ink to the page. I think of it as the skeleton of the sketch before adding the muscle (pen and watercolor.)

I was second in line, behind an American family of four whose teen boys seemed more interested in looking at their phones rather than the amazing architecture and history that surrounded them. I was certainly glad that smartphones didn’t exist when I first visited Europe in the late 1980s.

What is unusual about the tower is that instead of climbing steps to get to the top, you climb a brick paved circular ramp.

It is rumored that Czar Peter the Great rode his horse up the 34.8 meter tower. In 1902 an automobile repeated the feat. Apparently there are still skid marks from the drive but I could not find them.

The staircase to get to the observatory is so narrow that there is a stoplight because it is only one way traffic. After a short wait I was the first at the top, having passed the American family on the circuitous way up. The view was certainly worth it!

On top of the Round Tower is an observatory, which is the oldest in all of Europe.

I wanted to get to the very popular Nyhavn (New Harbor) before the tourists hordes descended upon it. So I headed out from my Nørreport digs and walked 25 minutes to the picturesque harbor.

I had the place almost to myself (I was only asked to take one photo). I walked around until I found the right vantage point. I wanted sail boats in the canal with the pastel colored builds in the background.

My canalside sketching stool was a mooring cleat. It was the perfect height. After a few pencil lines I commenced the sketch with my uni Pen brush pen (I have really favored this pen on this journey).

After sketching and cafinating in Nyhavan, I headed back whence I came and entered the park around Rosenborg Castle. I walked around the castle until I found a park bench perspective and started to sketch. The benefit of heading out early is that the park and castle were largely devoid of tourists. It was the time of the morning that the locals strolled through or walked their dogs.

The first site I chose to see and sketch on my first day in Copenhagen, Denmark was perhaps it’s most popular tourist attraction. Yet in my Lonely Guide, it is not even in the Top Experiences in the Danish capital. In fact some guidebooks say skip it entirely and go elsewhere. When people first see it, they are often underwhelmed by how small she is. Her name: “The Little Mermaid”.

I guess the word “little” is in the title so it really shouldn’t be a big surprise at the underwhelming nature of the statue.

I walked from the Metro station and after a 15 minute ramble, I knew I was getting close because there were more and more people and more parked tour buses. When I first got to the statue I could not see it because of all the picture snapped hordes in front of the statue.

So I took out my sketchbook.

I have to admit that I had previsualized the sketch. I wanted to try and capture how popular this statue really was and it is visited by both land and water. I wanted to try and capture that chaotic, frothing at the mouth, European tourism. Think of the crowds surrounding the diminutive Mona Lisa.

In the final sketch (featured sketch) I have exaggerated the size of the statue while minimizing the size of her worshippers.

And once I visited the statue, I was not disappointed. The crowds ebbed and flowed like the tide. Snapping pictures or taking a selfie and then retreating back to the comfort of their idling tour bus.

So I had set the bar rather low and from here, Copenhagen could only become more amazing.

And it certainly was!