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Big Boy 4014 Will Leave Cheyenne In August, Return In September

Published on in News/Good news
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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

Union Pacific’s famed steam locomotive, the “Big Boy,” will travel through 10 states in August and early September in its first major trip since its restoration was completed two years ago.

The Big Boy, the longest locomotive ever built, will leave from Cheyenne for its month-long trip on Aug. 5.

“We’re excited to be bringing the Big Boy back, and sharing the locomotive with the public once again, especially after the past year,” UP senior communications manager Mike Jaixen told Cowboy State Daily on Tuesday. “If our 2019 tour is any indication, we can expect crowds to come and experience history in motion. People came out by the thousands to experience a unique piece of railroad history and to learn more about the impact railroads have made on our society in the past and today.”

This is the steam engine’s first tour since it was restored for 2019’s Great Race tours celebrating the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad’s completion.

The multi-year restoration took place at Union Pacific’s steam shop in Cheyenne, following a retirement that spanned six decades.

“Weighing in at 1.2 million pounds, the Big Boy makes a big impression in communities it visits, reminding us of bygone days and the important role the railroad continues to play in our global economy,” said Scott Moore, senior vice president – corporate relations and chief administrative officer. “This summer, we are proud to announce that the Big Boy will be back to tour through 10 of the states and hundreds of the communities which Union Pacific serves.”

No. 4014 will leave the Union Pacific Steam Shop in Cheyenne on Aug. 5, making brief whistle-stops in communities across Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Kansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming.

The locomotive will be on display in the following cities:

  • Aug. 14: Fort Worth, Texas
  • Aug. 17: Houston, Texas
  • Aug. 21: New Orleans, Louisiana
  • Aug. 29: St. Louis, Missouri
  • Sept. 6: Denver

The Big Boy will return to Cheyenne following the Denver stop.

Twenty-five Big Boys were built exclusively for Union Pacific, the first of which was delivered in 1941 to handle the steep terrain between Cheyenne and Ogden.

Of the eight still in existence, No. 4014 is the world’s only operating Big Boy.

The other seven can be found on display in Cheyenne, Denver, Frisco, Texas, Green Bay, Wisconsin, Omaha, Nebraska, Scranton, Pennsylvania and St. Louis, Missouri.

Union Pacific strongly encourages visitors to keep safety top of mind while viewing and photographing the 4014 on its journey. For everyone’s safety:

  • Remember, trains can’t stop quickly to avoid people or vehicles on the tracks.
  • A train’s distance and speed can be deceiving.
  • The average train overhangs the track by at least 3 feet – take extra precaution and stand back at least 25 feet.
  • Railroad tracks, trestles, yards and right of way are private property.
  • Never assume tracks are abandoned or inactive – always expect a train.

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Big Boy 4014 to Run Again, Likely In August

Published on in News/trains
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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

Union Pacific Railroad’s famed Big Boy 4014 locomotive, the world’s largest steam-driven locomotive, will run again sometime this year, according to a recent announcement.

Last week, UP announced that its steam locomotives would soon be up and running again and that the Big Boy would likely run again sometime in August.

“We know you missed seeing our steam locomotives last year nearly as much as the UP Steam Team missed operating No. 844 and Big Boy No. 4014,” the announcement said. “We have great news, the Steam Team is busy planning an excursion for No. 4014, likely kicking off August.”

UP canceled all plans to run the steam locomotives in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Big Boy was unveiled to the public in 2019 after a multi-year restoration process.

It traveled to multiple states on a “Great Race Across the Midwest” tour, going from Wyoming to Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, just to name a few. It is the only operating Big Boy to travel the rails since the model was retired in 1961.

The Big Boy name is fitting, as the locomotive weighs more than 600 tons and is the longest ever built. Around 25 of the Big Boys were made in the 1940s to pull heavy loads up steep grades between Utah and Wyoming, and only eight remain intact.

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Train Explodes in Uinta County on Saturday

Published on in News
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By Ellen Fike, Cowboy State Daily

A Union Pacific train engine exploded over the weekend in Uinta County, but no information has been released as to the cause.

No one was injured in the blast that occurred early Saturday morning.

According to a social media post from Uinta County Fire and Ambulance, firefighters from North Summit, Utah, joined the Uinta County forces in responding to the explosion at around 3 a.m. Saturday.

No information has been released from Union Pacific on the cause. A media representative from UP didn’t immediately respond to a request from Cowboy State Daily for a comment.

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Bob Geha: Two-Person Train Crew Bill Clears House

Published on in News/politics
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By Bob Geha, Cowboy State Daily

A bill that would require that the crews on trains crossing Wyoming consist of at least two people has won final approval from Wyoming’s House.

Representatives voted 37-22 on Thursday to approve House Bill 79 in its third and final House reading, sending the bill to the Senate for its review.

The bill would require that all train crews in Wyoming consist of at least two people. It would also forbid railroads from proposing 1-person crews in their contract negotiations with unions.

Bill sponsor Rep. Stan Blake, D-Green River, said 2-person crews are a necessary safety measures on trains.

“When trains roll through Laramie at 50 mph, Rock Springs, they don’t stop, Evanston, they don’t stop,” he said. “Three-mile trains hauling unbelievable hazardous material … It’s scary what’s rolling through our towns.”

The measure was approved despite objections from some representative who said the state should not be getting involved with the operation of private businesses.

“I don’t think it’s government’s role to tell them what to do,” said Rep Bunky Loucks, R-Casper.

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Big Boy embarks on Great Race to Promontory Point

Published on in News/Transportation
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Watch as the world’s largest steam locomotive returns to the rails as Union Pacific Railroad commemorates transcontinental railroad’s 150th Anniversary.

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Train engineer explains the origins of the ‘Big Boy’

Published on in Community/Transportation
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Rail enthusiasts from around the world are looking to Cheyenne this weekend as the the largest steam locomotive ever built begins a trip to Utah.

In this interview with the Cowboy State Daily, former steam locomotive engineer Bob Krieger — a member of the Sherman Hill Model Railroad Club, Inc. — discusses the Union Pacific Big Boy Locomotive and explains the allure of steam engines and trains in general. The model train layout in the background is in operation and can be seen every weekend at Cheyenne’s Frontier Mall.

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Largest steam locomotive ever made to hit the rails again

Published on in News/Transportation/Tourism
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Courtesy: Union Pacific Youtube posted Jan. 29 2019

By Jim Angell, Cowboy State Daily

A resurrected giant of the rails built specifically to conquer the steep grades of the Rocky Mountain West will roll through Wyoming once again beginning Saturday.

The Big Boy locomotive, the largest steam engine ever built, will take off from Cheyenne’s Union Pacific Depot on Saturday morning, bound for Utah and the 150th anniversary of the completion of the country’s first transcontinental railway.

In an event to be attended by hundreds of train enthusiasts from around the world, the “Big Boy” will be christened at 9:30 a.m. Saturday before leaving for Ogden, Utah. Ogden is about 30 miles from Promontory Point, where the “golden spike” was driven in 1869 to link the Central Pacific’s line built east from Sacramento, California, with the Union Pacific line built west from the Missouri River. UP no longer has lines near the site.

This will mark the first time since 1961 that any of the 25 Big Boys built between 1941 and 1944 has been in active service for Union Pacific and the event is drawing rail fans from as far as Norway and Australia, said Bob Krieger, a former steam locomotive engineer who now runs the UP Historical Society in Cheyenne.

The attraction for many, Krieger said, rests in the allure of steam engines themselves.

“A steam locomotive is a living, breathing piece of machinery,” he said. “You can see its muscles. You can hear it breathe as it pulls a grade. All steam engines do that. The Big Boy is just the biggest.”

Weighing in at more than 1.2 million pounds, the Big Boy is 132 feet long and hinged in the center so it can negotiate turns in the rails.The Big Boy was created primarily to haul large loads up the Wasatch grade between Ogden, Utah, and Evanston, Wyoming.

“As the railroads expanded and grew their business, the train got longer and heavier and they had to have more powerful engines for the grades,” Krieger said. “The Big Boys, when they were designed, were actually going to be called the ‘Wasatch Class,’ but on the first one to come out, somebody had chalked on the smoke box ‘Big Boy.’”

Of the 25 Big Boys created, only eight remain intact on display around the country. Union Pacific obtained one from a transportation museum in California for refurbishment to take part in the “golden spike” celebration.

The locomotive was brought to Cheyenne, the headquarters for UP’s Steam Division, to be restored. There, crews relied on old schematics to recreate machinery parts that were no longer available for the locomotive, which was retired from UP’s roster in 1961.

After more than two years of work, the Big Boy — now fitted to burn oil instead of coal to generate steam — is ready for the trip to Promontory Point. It will be joined for the trip by UP’s “Living Legend” locomotive, the last steam locomotive to be built for the railroad.

The christening itself is a ticketed event and tickets have been sold out for weeks. However, the locomotives will be stopping at several points along the route before reaching Ogden, Utah, on May 9. (For details, see the schedule at the bottom of this story or visit Union Pacific’s website).

The locomotives will be viewable in Harriman, Laramie, Medicine Bow and Rawlins on Saturday.

Or, for a look at a smaller version of the world’s largest steam locomotive, a visit to the Frontier Mall in Cheyenne might be in order, where a model train version of the Big Boy holds a place of honor in the Sherman Hill Model Railroad Club’s layout — atop a trestle passing over a deep canyon.

Krieger, a member of the club, said the fact that up to 500 people visit the layout each weekend shows how popular trains remain for Americans.

“It’s a part of Americana,” he said. “During the (WWII) years, the railroad was the mainstay for moving freight, troops and supplies. A lot of us, when we were young, were very interested in watching trains run.”

The popularity of the layout translates well for the club’s annual railroad show at the Frontier Park exhibition hall, where several thousand will visit on the weekend of May 18-19. The event will feature nine model railroad layouts and 43 vendors.

Schedule for the “Great Race to Ogden”

To be traveled by the “Big Boy” and “Living Legends” locomotives

Saturday, May 4:

10 a.m.: Depart Cheyenne

11:15 a.m.: Arrive Harriman, depature 11:30 a.m.

12:30 p.m.: Arrive Laramie, departure 1:15 p.m.

2:30 p.m.: Arrive Medicine Bow, departure 3:15 p.m.

4:45 p.m.: Arrive Rawlins.

Sunday, May 5:

8 a.m.: Depart Rawlins

9:15 a.m.: Arrive Wamsutter, departure 10 a.m.

11:15 a.m.: Arrive Rock Springs

Monday, May 6: 

4 a.m.: Depart Rock Springs

4:55 a.m.: Arrive Green River, departure 5:10 a.m.

6:15 a.m.: Arrive Granger, departure 7 a.m.

8:45 a.m.: Arrive Evanston

Tuesday, May 7:

Full day in Evanston, no public display.

Wednesday, May 8:

8 a.m.: Depart Evanston

9:25 a.m.: Arrive Echo, Utah, departure 9:40 a.m.

10:20 a.m.: Arrive Morgan, Utah, departure 10:35 a.m.

11:35 a.m.: Arrive, Ogden, Utah.

Thursday, May 9:

10:30 a.m.-3 p.m.:  Free public display at Ogden Union Station

The location of the Big Boy can also be tracked via GPS at the UP website: https://www.up.com/forms/steam-trace.cfm

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