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2mo ago

Union Pacific’s Last Big Boy Sets Out on Rare Eastward Tour

The restored No. 4014 will travel east to Philadelphia for July Fourth semiquincentennial events.

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Under deep blue skies, Union Pacific’s Big Boy, the world’s largest operating steam locomotive, heads east near Cheyenne, Wyoming, as it begins a two-month trip to the East Coast for national 250th celebrations.
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Overview

  • Big Boy No. 4014 departed Cheyenne on Monday, May 25, beginning a rare eastward run that will end with public displays in Philadelphia around the July Fourth semiquincentennial.
  • Union Pacific published a detailed eastern-leg schedule and a live “steam tracker” so people can find stops in Nebraska, the Midwest, upstate New York and Pennsylvania.
  • Because No. 4014 is unique, it travels with a dormitory car for the crew and a tool car carrying machine tools and a lathe so technicians can make on-route repairs.
  • The locomotive has been converted to burn fuel oil and sometimes uses waste engine oil from diesel engines, and officials ask spectators to stay at least 25 feet back for safety.
  • Union Pacific restored the lone operating Big Boy under lead engineer Ed Dickens, and the company expects more than one million in-person viewers over the full tour.