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 hosting what would be the Big Boy’s first trip in the East since the 4-8-8-4 rolled out of the Alco plant in Schenectady, N.Y., in 1941.
UP is working through the details of operating the 1.2-million pound locomotive off of home rails, including timing of the trip and whether the 4014 would head west from its Cheyenne, Wyo., base to Oakland, Calif., first or steam east.
Either way, the goal would be to run the Big Boy from coast to coast.
“It is a little complicated,” Vena says. “But I think it would be a great, great historical movement for America’s 250th birthday … to move that steam engine, the biggest operating steam engine in the world, across the country. I think it’d be real cool.”
UP retired No. 4014 on Dec. 7, 1961, and donated the locomotive to the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, which put the Big Boy on display at the Rail Giants Train Museum in Pomona, Calif. UP reacquired No. 4014 in 2013. It was moved to the UP Steam Shop in Cheyenne, where it was restored to operating condition. The Big Boy returned to service in 2019 in time for the 150th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad.
In celebration of the U.S. bicentennial in 1976, Ross Rowland assembled the American Freedom Train, which barnstormed across the country behind steam from April 1, 1975 through 1976. The 26-car train was hauled by three different steam locomotives as it visited all 48 contiguous states: Former Reading 4-8-4 No. 2101, former Southern Pacific 4-8-4 No. 4449, and former Texas & Pacific 2-10-4 No. 610.
My wife and I traveled to Utah in 2024 to see 4014. I got a great video as he cam into Ogden. Mr. Rice, please find him when Big Boy comes east; it is poetry in motion!
BTW, the NS line into Charleston, SC is the oldest segment of NS. The “South Carolina Railroad” was founded just 2 months after B&O. The Holy City is a great host!
When will they send my boy to SoCal? I’d love to see the big boy in Union Station or Montebello😭
My fond hope would be to see it go around the Horseshoe Curve. In musing about this move, I wonder how to get 4014 into Altoona properly pointed. If it ran down the mountain from the west, are there still facilities in Altoona to turn it? If not, how to get there without touching Amtrak trackage?
Don’t think the turntable at JBS is big enough. Back in about 1975 they ran a double header from the west, cut the train off at AR. The train was brought to Altoona by diesels and the two steamers were turned on the helper track and backed down the curve to recouple to the train to head back west.
anything less than Big Boy on Horseshoe Curve would simply be, “UN AMERICAN…” lol. That would be something to see on Virtual Railfan… Maybe by then UP Challenger 3985 will be finished in its over haul at RRHMA and can make the trip too. Still mad at UP for giving away that beauty of an engine…
How about an east coast North to South run while you are at it. Portland ME to Miami FL. Now that would be something for the history books!!
It would be nice to see it visit its birthplace in Schenectady. While recent redevelopment has left very little if any of Alco’s facilities still standing, there is still active trackage there, in the form of a former Delaware & Hudson mainline, NS has trackage rights on CPKC through that area, so if UP prefers NS as the eastern host railroad, that fits perfectly.
Would love to see it on the old Southern Railways New Orleans & Northeast line from Meridian to New Orleans especially going over the Lake Pontchartrain Trestle.
What would make this even better would be having the N & W 611 along for a doubleheader.
If 3985 ran on the Clinchfield, there’s no reason why 4014 can’t run some on the least coast!
They had some clearance problems when the Challenger ran on the Clinchfield that resulted in damage to her. After the big articulated’s were retired on the Clinchfield they narrowed down their right of ways a little and the 3985 struck some stored coal cars in a siding on a curve with it’s overhanging boiler walkway, which had to be taken off, straightened and rewelded before being put back on the loco and continuing on its tour. They also had some problems backing it down a WYE to turn it as a the 12 wheel pedestal tender kept derailing on the tight curve, Just minor problems but typical of moving such large engines on tracks made for modern, flexible diesels…
A little bump for merger approval?
Big Boy at horseshoe curve. WOW
We must not forget Memphis as the connecting city between Union Pacific (nèe Missouri Pacific) from the West and Norfolk Southern (nèe Southern Railway) from the East. The former Southern Railway Memphis Division was part of predecessor Memphis & Charleston Railway that was the first railway to connect the Atlantic Ocean directly with the Mississippi River.
They will have to find a bunch of different connections IF they decide to take Big Boy through Altoona and over Horseshoe Curve from the West but I am sure they will figure it out…
Let the speculation begin! LOL
I suspect that Norfolk Southern will be the Eastern host road, with plenty of rides for key supporters of the merger. DC and Philly around July 4, maybe Steamtown for a reunion. Kansas City and Chicago for places where UP and NS connect. The possibilities are endless! (Ok, limited by track capacity, curve radii, and business requirements.)
“…maybe Steam Town for a reunion.” That would be awesome seeing the 4014 along side the 4012 for a photo shot! I recall back in the late 60s or early 70s (?) visiting Steam Town in Bellow Falls, VT and climbing into the cab of the 4012. That huge firebox in the 4012 was bigger than my bedroom. lol!!
Totally Agree with all. I seen it in Lake Elmo, MN., and Baldwin, WI., on the same day on the UP Altoona sub. It is quite a site.
Living in Colorado, I can only tell people who have never seen it run, get out and see it when it comes to your area. Have seen it several times and it is unforgetable.
Fantastic! Born and raised with the 4014 in Cheyenne,
This would be a GREAT treat for those of us in the East who have never seen an operating Big Boy. Though I have seen the static one on display at Steamtown in Scranton, PA, seeing the 4014 running would be great!