The challenge this week is Interesting Objects by Patti. She writes, “This week, we’re exploring Interesting Objects on LAPC. I’m sure you’ve had the experience of walking through a city, the country, a museum, or a beach, for example, and something catches your eye. If you’re lucky, you have a camera ready to capture it.” You can check out her collection of images here.

At first, this one gave me some pause as I was thinking about how few images of “objects” I have taken over the years. Then I saw someone else’s post that included some museum pieces and I thought that would be a way for me to go. I do have a lot of objects included in some of the museums I’ve toured and shared on Journeys with Johnbo.

As I started to review my collection of photos, though, I remembered the large collection of classic car images I’ve captured and with Barrett-Jackson Scottsdale coming this week, that would have been a timely post that could even have current photos. But then, I came across the opening image and my take on the theme of Interesting Objects came to being.

That big red truck hauling lumber at Olympia, Washington is large and those extra sets of wheels underneath the flatbed portion tell me that this truck is capable of very heavy loads and even has the power to tow another trailer behind. My take on this week’s theme features interesting (at least to me) BIG objects. The typical logging truck can carry as much as 88,000 lbs (39,916 kg). That’s BIG!

Every object I share this week is related to transportation in some way, but that’s just because often big objects are needed to support the transport of goods and people. The BNSF engine above is a typical diesel-electric locomotive. According to BNSF, their engines travel some 4.8 million miles (7,724 km) in their lifetime, and they weigh an average of 480,000 pounds (217,000 kg), the equivalent of 112 large SUVs. That’s BIG!

While on the topic of locomotives, this steam engine is number 261 and is currently in service pulling an excursion train after having been restored in 1993. I couldn’t resist adding a little “artsy-fartsy” photo processing of those powerful drive wheels to this beautifully restored piece of Americana. Manufactured in 1944 in Schenectady, NY, Engine 261 and its tender are over 109 feet (33 m) long and can carry up to 25 tons of coal and 20,000 gallons of water. That’s BIG!

Though this Hoffstadt Creek Bridge isn’t a piece of transportation, it’s a necessary part of the infrastructure that allows people to visit Mount Saint Helens in Washington. You’ll find it on State Route 504, a highway that was completely rebuilt after being destroyed by the eruption of the volcano in 1980. This is a big bridge with a 600-foot (183 m) span that opened in 1991. The deck is some 370 feet (113 m) above the river below. and its height makes it second only to the High Steel Bridge over Vance Creek in the Olympic National Forest. The Hoffstadt Creek Bridge is the third tallest bridge in the northwestern United States. The deck is 32 feet (9.7 m) wide and 2340 feet (713 m) long. That’s BIG!

Regular readers know of my love for all things cruising, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that I feature a cruise ship in my BIG Objects post. The Celebrity Equinox isn’t the largest cruise ship by any means, but it’s no slouch in the BIG department. With over 1300 cabins and a capacity of 2850 guests and 1255 crew, the ship is 1041 feet (317 m) long. She underwent a full renovation shortly after this image was captured in April 2019. That’s BIG!

I’ve covered land and sea travel, so I conclude this post with a heavy hauler in the aeronautical arena. The image above is affectionately known as Fat Albert. The aircraft was used for many years to haul people and equipment to accompany the Blue Angels flight demonstration team. The aircraft is a Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules, a four-engine turboprop.

This heavy hauler has a cargo bay length of 41 feet (12.5 m), a width of 10 feet (3 m), and a height of 9 feet (2.7 m). It can travel at 410 miles per hour (680 km/hour) or in aviation parlance, 356 knots true airspeed. It can carry 44,500 pounds (20,227 kg) to a service ceiling of 26,000 feet (8,000 m). That’s BIG!

I hope you enjoyed my take on this week’s challenge. Thanks to Patti for this week’s topic. For a closer look at these images and the opportunity to pixel peep and check out the metadata, you can click on an image to view it from my Flickr site. You can visit the entire Flickr album for this challenge-response here.

John Steiner