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 Council Bluffs, Iowa.
The trip will be the railroad’s traditional Cheyenne Frontier Days special.
In an email to the railroad’s Steam Club members, the railroad said the locomotives will travel from Cheyenne to Denver on July 17 and return to Cheyenne on July 19. The July 17 trip will depart Cheyenne at 10 a.m., with a whistle stop in Greeley between 11:30 a.m. and 12:01 p.m. On the return trip, the stop in Greeley is scheduled between 8:30 a.m. and 8:50 a.m., with the train reaching Cheyenne about 10:30 a.m. The railroad says there will be no public access to the locomotive in Cheyenne or Denver because of security and safety concerns.
The cab rides will be offered on the July 17 trip, with two available from Cheyenne to Greeley and two from Greeley to Denver. Riders must be 18 or older; other requirements are available on the auction website. The auction will run from June 2 to June 23, although registration is available now.
The trip appears to be the only one scheduled for No. 4014 this year. UP’s email says that while this year’s schedule is limited, “the Big Boy will return to the rails in a big way in 2026 to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary.”
Puzzlement at first about the headline since Lincoln (NE) diesel shop is a major maintenance facility. :-)–Jerry Pinkepank
Puzzlement at first about the headline since Lincoln (NE) diesel shop is a major maintenance facility. 🙂