CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Union Pacific’s famed Big Boy steam locomotive No. 4014 is set to return to the tracks this summer for what UP’s Steam Club is calling the “West Coast Steam Tour,” kicking off on June 26 from the railroad’s heritage headquarters in Cheyenne.
This year’s tour celebrates Union Pacific’s 160th anniversary, its heritage, and the railroad’s relationship to the communities it serves. This will also be the first time the 4-8-8-4 has visited the Pacific Northwest since its return to service in 2019. The railroad traces its inception to the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862.
Billed as the world’s largest operating steam locomotive, 4014 was built in 1941 by American Locomotive Company, ended regular service in 1959, and later became an exhibit at the RailGiants Train Museum in Pomona, Calif. In 2013, Union Pacific re-acquired the engine from the museum and moved it to Cheyenne for its restoration.
The Big Boy will make a huge loop that will take the engine west via Sparks, Nev., to Roseville, Calif., then north to Portland, Ore., then east again to Cheyenne via Boise, Idaho. The engine will be on display in Sparks on July 6, Roseville on July 8-9, Portland on July 15-16, and Boise on July 21-22.
Display days will include locomotive viewing, live Q&A sessions with the steam crew, and access to the “Experience the Union Pacific Rail Car,” a multi-media walk-through exhibition that provides a glimpse at the past while telling the story of modern-day railroading.
After departing the Cheyenne shop on June 26, the engine and its train will make brief whistle-stops in dozens of communities in Wyoming, Nevada, California, Oregon, Idaho, and Utah. Further details for these stops will be released to the Steam Club in May.
The railroad recently turned 4014 on the turntable at the Cheyenne roundhouse and has released this video of the event.
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