SALT LAKE CITY — Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 began its return to its home base of Cheyenne, Wyo., today, but not before the recently resurrected 4-8-8-4 steam locomotive put on a show along the famed Wasatch grade between Evanston, Wyo., and Ogden, Utah.
On May 8, with temperatures hovering just above freezing, Big Boy descended the grade on its way to ceremonies marking the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad, spewing clouds of steam and exhaust before reaching the warmer and drier Ogden.
Today, four days later, Big Boy and 4-8-4 No. 844 returned to the grade, this time going uphill, and charging the whole way under blue skies in considerably warmer temperatures.
Trains videographers captured Big Boy at Curvo and Echo Canyon on May 8 and departing Ogden on May 12, near Morgan, Utah, and lastly at Wahsatch, Utah.
The Big Boy’s journey continues today with the train going from Evanston to Rock Springs, Wyo.
