Historic locomotive rolls through Harrison County on May 31
The world's largest steam locomotive will journey to the East Coast for the first time this summer on a coast-to-coast tour to celebrate America's 250th anniversary.
Union Pacific Railroad said Big Boy No. 4014 will begin a summer tour on Memorial Day weekend. The locomotive will return back to its homebase in Cheyenne on Wednesday, July 29.
Union Pacific said major display events are planned in eight cities and more than 50 whistle-stops in 10 states, including stops for the first time in Indiana, Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania. There are more than four dozen whistle-stops planned, each generally 15- to 30- minutes long.
As part of the tour, the nonprofit Union Pacific Museum will sell tickets for rides in vintage passenger cars pulled by Big Boy through the Poconos Mountains in Pennsylvania on June 14 as a fundraiser.
Big Boy No. 4014 Coast-to-Coast Tour
May 29
Grand Island, NE (no public access)
Columbus, NE
Omaha, NE (no public access)
May 30
Omaha, NE
May 31
Omaha, NE (no public access)
Denison, IA
Carroll, IA
Union Pacific said locations where the Big Boy stops overnight are closed to the public due to safety and security reasons.
Big Boy No. 4014
The 1.2 million-pound Big Boy steam locomotive was built in the 1940s to conquer mountains while carrying equipment during World War II.
Big Boy No. 4014 was delivered to Union Pacific in December 1941, built to cross the Wasatch Mountain Range east of Ogden, Utah. Union Pacific said No. 4014 was retired in 1961 after traveling a little over a million miles, reacquired by Union Pacific in 2013 and restored to service in 2019.
Twenty-five Big Boy locomotives were built for Union Pacific. No. 4014 is the world’s only functioning Big Boy.
Eight Big Boys remain throughout the United States. Big Boy No. 4005 is on display at the Forney Museum of Transportation in Denver. Big Boy No. 4004 is on display at Holliday Park in Cheyenne.
