Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 Departs Granger, WY May 6th, 2019

Fan Railer, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/

4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

UP 4014 & UP 844 ease west out of Granger, Wyoming bound for Ogden

and the 150th Anniversary of the Golden Spike, May 6th, 2021

     On August 24, 2024, the Union Pacific “Big Boy” No.4014 Steam Locomotive set out on its Heartland America Tour.

     It departed from Chyenne, Wyoming, traveling through Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, and into Missouri through St. Louis, stopping in De Soto and into Bismarck, Missouri on September 12^th.

       Originally, they looked at stopping in Bismarck early on when planning the tour,but decided against it. They decided to stop in De Soto and then Ironton.

     Last minute, the Mayor of Bismarck, Seth Radfrod called them and reminded them of Bismarck’s historical past with the railroad and that they should stop there. They listened and scheduled a maintenance stop. There were approximately 4,000 overjoyed railroad enthusiast that were waiting to greet it. 

     I had been asked by Brad Brown, owner of Train Station Antiques, to set up my table, displaying my books for sale. I met a lot of nice people and made some contacts, plus got to see the Big Boy.

     The American Locomotive Company built twenty-five for Union Pacific Railroad. Twenty were delivered in 1941 and five in 1944. With a wheel arrangement of 4-8-8-4, length of 132 feet, weighing 1,200,000 pounds. The Big Boy was so long the frame was hinged to allow it to flex in the corners.

Big Boy Arrival in Bismarck, Missouri

      They were built to transport freight through the high mountains of Ogden, Utah and Cheyenne, Wyoming. The 4014 went into service in November 1941 until it was retired in December 1961. During its twenty years of service, it logged in 1,031,205 miles.

In Echo, Utah

Wiki Commons, Public Domain

     After retirement it was displayed at the Rail Giants Museum at Pomona, California. Then in 2013 it was re-required by Union Pacific and underwent a multi-year restoration, It was completed in May of 2019 just in time for the 150 year anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad celebration.

     There are eight Big Boys still in existence, but the 4014 is the only one that is still in operation.

     Since being brought back into operation, it has made various trips across America to promote the history of one of the most important inventions that man has seen, the steam locomotive.

  View of the Crowd Waiting For Big Boy                                      .

                Up close to take a picture of the world's largesr steam locomotive