No. 844 will join No. 4014, shown at Pomona, Calif., in 2013, on its inaugural run.
Trains: Jim Wrinn
CHEYENNE, Wyo. — When Union Pacific’s westbound steam doubleheader leaves Cheyenne on May 4 in the inaugural run of Big Boy No. 4014, the 4-8-8-4 will lead 4-8-4 No. 844, a UP spokeswoman tells Trains News Wire today.
“The plan is to have No. 4014 in the lead,” Kristen South said late Wednesday afternoon. She said the crew is finishing painting and mechanical details and plans to begin test runs in coming days.
Traditionally, the smaller of the two locomotives leads a steam doubleheader and serves in the role of the helper, but because No. 4014 is the star of the show, it will
go out front for the trip to Ogden, Utah, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the first transcontinental railroad. The railroad had already planned to run them as a doubleheader eastbound from Ogden to Cheyenne.
Earlier Wednesday afternoon, UP said it is cancelling 4-8-4 No. 844’s April 27-28 trip from Cheyenne to Ogden, and making the debut of 4-8-8-4 No. 4014 a doubleheader on the same route.
“The Union Pacific Steam Team is busy making final preparations for the May 4 christening of the Big Boy No. 4014 in Cheyenne, Wyoming,” UP said in an email to its online steam club. “Final touches on its paint job are being applied and the last necessary tests are being conducted.”
