PORTOLA, Calif. — The Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola will host a fundraising dinner on April 8 as part of a visit by Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy No. 4014. The dinner will feature a presentation by Ed Dickens, senior manager of heritage operations at UP. Tickets, priced at $100, are available here and […]
WASHINGTON — Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern have asked the Federal Railroad Administration to waive cab-signal requirements that otherwise would restrict where UP’s 4-8-8-4 Big Boy No. 4014 could operate on its historic eastern swing this summer. In Feb. 10 letters to the FRA, the railroads sought permission to operate the Big Boy in cab-signal […]
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Some 27 whistle stops are planned along with four public display days on the western tour of Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014, which begins March 29 with departure from Cheyenne. UP today announced the full schedule for the western trip, the first part of a planned coast-to-coast journey, in an email […]
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Union Pacific’s Big Boy will return to California this spring in the first leg of its planned coast-to-coast trip for America’s 250th anniversary, the railroad has announced. The first segment of the trip will be a round trip from Cheyenne, Wyo., beginning March 29 and concluding April 24, with two major public […]
Editor’s note: The January 2026 issue of Trains Magazine includes author Greg Richardson’s article on the development of positive train control, “The road to PTC,” viewed primarily through the lens of his time in Union Pacific’s PTC program. Space limitations precluded inclusion of his look at development of PTC for Big Boy No. 4014; we […]
OMAHA, Neb. — Union Pacific plans to send Big Boy No. 4014 on a transcontinental trip next year as part of the nation’s 250th anniversary celebrations. “I want to run Big Boy across the country,” CEO Jim Vena told Trains on Thursday. Vena says that he’s had discussions with Norfolk Southern CEO Mark George about […]
Broadway Limited HO UP Big Boy Scale: HO (1:87.1) Price: Stealth (no sound), $749.99; with dual-mode Paragon4 sound decoder, $849.99 Era: 1941 to present (varies based on paint scheme) Manufacturer: Broadway Limited Imports, 9 East Tower Circle, Ormond Beach, FL 32174; 386-673-8900; broadway-limited.com Broadway Limited HO UP Big Boy features: Back-electromotive-force decoder Built-in capacitor pack […]
No railroad was better equipped to shoulder the heavy burden of wartime traffic thanks to the three types of Union Pacific steam locomotives that constituted its front line of defense: the 4-6-6-4 Challenger, arguably the most successful simple articulated ever made; the 4-8-8-4 Big Boy, which easily wore the mantle “world’s largest steam locomotive”; and […]
GREELEY, Colo. — Union Pacific’s Big Boy began its only scheduled trip of 2025 today (July 17), heading from its home base in Cheyenne, Wyo., to Denver as part of a round trip for the annual Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo. The 4-8-8-4 is accompanied by the railroad’s Abraham Lincoln diesel, No. 1616. Today’s servicing stop […]
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 and the railroad’s diesel honoring Abraham Lincoln will make a round trip between Cheyenne and Denver in July, with a public whistle-stop appearance in Greeley, Colo., in each direction. The railroad will also auction off four cab rides to support the Union Pacific Railroad Museum in […]
Seemingly every resident of West, Texas – population 2,531 – has turned out to witness a spectacle. Townspeople are lined up on both sides of Union Pacific’s Fort Worth Subdivision, which runs smack through the middle of downtown. All eyes are looking to the south, hoping to catch the first glimpse of UP 4-8-8-4 No. […]
Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 No. 4014, the railroad’s heritage fleet, and steam program boss Ed Dickens are featured in the latest episode of “Jay Leno’s Garage,” the former “Tonight Show” host’s YouTube program. UP and the National Park Foundation welcomed Leno and his film crew on the Missouri Valley to Dennison, Iowa, portion of […]
