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Big Boy 4014 Steam Locomotive, return to steam.

Union Pacific steam locomotive number 4014 is considered to be one of the

largest locomotives ever built. It was one of 25 big boy locomotives built for

the Union Pacific Railroad between 1941 and 1944 by the American Locomotive

Company. These were large, articulated locomotives with a 4 -8 -8 -4 wheel

arrangement. Essentially, these were two locomotives rolled into one, running

off a shared boiler.

The articulated design allows the front set of four pilot wheels and eight

driving wheels, often called an engine, to pivot separately from the rest of the

locomotive. This allowed the big boys to travel through much tighter curves than

if all the wheels were on one rigid frame.

Big boy locomotives were designed to pull long, heavy freight trains through

mountains of Wyoming and Utah without the assistance of a helper locomotive.

They could put out over 6 ,000 horsepower and operated at a boiler

300 pounds per square inch. The locomotive and tender combined weighed

,250 ,000 pounds and measured in at over 132 feet in length.

Top speed for these locomotives was 80 miles per hour, although in service they

were limited to 70 miles per hour.

The big boys served the Union Pacific Railroad well for nearly 20 years.

In 1959, the last big boy was retired from service.

While most of these magnificent machines were scrapped, eight of the 25 big boy

locomotives were saved and donated to various museums across the United States

as examples of the pinnacle of steam locomotive technology.

Nearly 60 years later, in 2013, Union Pacific made a deal with the Rail Giant

Train Museum in Pomona, California to reacquire locomotive 4014 and restore it

to operation to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the completion of the

Transcontinental Railroad in the year 2019.

Locomotive 4014 was moved from California to Cheyenne, Wyoming in early

where it was fully restored at the Union Pacific Steam Shops by Ed Dickens and

the Union Pacific Steam Team.

On May 1, 2019, the locomotive moved under its own power for the first time

nearly 60 years, and on May 2, it made its first official test run out of

Cheyenne.

Late in the afternoon of May 2, 2019, Union Pacific 4014 begins to leave the

Cheyenne rail yard.

It comes to a stop at the west end of the yard to receive some lubrication.

About a half hour later, just after 7 p .m., the locomotive is on the move again

with a short test train.

At Speer, Wyoming, the 4014 makes another stop for more lubrication and

inspection in the fading light.

The train wouldn't be on the move again until after dark.

Just two days later, on Saturday, May 4th, the big boy was scheduled to leave

Cheyenne on its first excursion trip.

The Great Race to Ogden, as it was called, was scheduled to take place from

Saturday, May 4th through Sunday, May 19th, 2019.

Big Boy 4014 was set to pull a special train along with Union Pacific's steam

locomotive 844 from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Ogden, Utah and return to commemorate

the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.

The route for the special excursion was over most of the Union Pacific's

original transcontinental rail line built between 1863 and 1869.

This also happens to be the stretch of rail line that the big boys regularly

operated over when in service.

On the first day, the train was scheduled to travel from Cheyenne to

Wyoming. Day two from Rawlins to Rock Springs, and day three from Rock Springs

to Evanston.

Day four was a scheduled rest day due to planned track work. Day five was the

last day of the train's westbound journey running between Evanston,

Ogden, Utah through beautiful Echo Canyon and Weber Canyon.

After a weekend of celebration in Ogden, the train was scheduled to return east

to Cheyenne on Sunday, May 12th.

Let's now follow the Big Boy and train on its first excursion run.

Returning to the hill at Speer, Wyoming, we see the Big Boy just a few miles

southwest of Cheyenne as it begins its first excursion trip.

Thousands of people line the tracks to witness this historic occasion.

With the large amount of freight traffic on the Transcon, there is always a

chance that the view of the train will be blocked.

At Rock River, Wyoming, the steam special rolls by just seconds before an

eastbound freight clears the view.

Just a few miles short of the final stop for day one in Rawlins, Wyoming, the

4014 rolls through the town of Sinclair. The train is running about two hours

late, due largely to longer -than -scheduled servicing stops in Laramie

Medicine Bow.

On the second day, the train makes a stop at Wham Sutter, Wyoming for

Large crowds have gathered to get an up -close view of the world's largest

operating steam locomotive.

4014 was built in November of 1941.

It was the second -to -last big boy locomotive in service on the Union

pulling its last train on July 21, 1959.

In service, the 4014 traveled over 1 million miles while working for the

Pacific. It was donated to the Rail Giants Train Museum in Pomona,

1961.

4014 was chosen by the Union Pacific STEAM Team as the best of the eight big

locomotives for restoration.

Both because it was overall in the best condition, having been stored and

maintained in the relatively mild Southern California climate, and because

the surviving locomotives, it was one of the last ones to be overhauled by the

railroad in the days of steam.

During the restoration, 4014 was converted from burning coal to burning

5 oil.

The Big Boys got their name shortly after the first locomotive was built

unknown employee wrote the name Big Boy in chalk on the smokebox door of the

very first Big Boy as it rolled out of the shop.

As a nod to this history, the name Big Boy has been written in chalk once

this time on the front of the 4014.

After a 45 minute stop in Whamsutter, the train continues on to Rock Springs.

At dawn on the third day, the sun rises above a cloud on the horizon.

The train is already rolling along having departed Rock Springs just after

.m. This early departure was made because of planned track work.

4014 brings the train under the Highway 30 overpass as it pulls into the second

service stop at Granger.

Approaching the yard at Evanston, the train comes to a stop.

Some large rocks and chunks of cement used to prevent erosion were placed too

close to the tracks for the 4014 cylinders to clear.

A backhoe was called in to move away the rocks before the train could proceed.

On the fifth morning of the trip, a light rain is falling as the special

downgrade through Echo Canyon.

The roads were jammed with people trying to get a view of the train on this

particular morning. Several thousand cars piled onto Interstate 80 and

30, bringing traffic to a crawl.

Utah's incident management team was on hand to help with the crowds as the 4014

made a stop in Echo, Utah for servicing.

The train was kept right on schedule, even leaving the second service stop in

Morgan ten minutes early.

Traffic continued to crawl through Weber Canyon as people attempted to get

pacing shots of the train from the road.

With the Wasatch Mountains in the background, the 4014 rolls out the last

miles into Ogden.

The next day, May 9th, a special ceremony was held at the Ogden Depot by

Pacific to recognize the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869

the restoration of the Big Boy 150 years later.

From the window of a front -runner commuter train, we see the 4014 parked

Ogden Rail Yard waiting for the special ceremony to begin.

Crowds began gathering as early as 5 a .m. for the event.

Union Pacific 844 was already out and on full display.

After a few speeches were made by railroad officials and local

4014 was brought out and parked nose -to -nose with the 844, emulating the

famous photograph of the completion of the original Transcontinental Railroad.

4014 rolls to a stop amid cheering from the crowd.

Following the short ceremony, people began to explore the Spike 150 Festival,

held in front of the Ogden Depot.

The next day, May 10, 2019, would mark 150 years since the official completion

date of the Transcontinental Railroad.

On May 10, over 10 ,000 people have gathered at the Golden Spike National

Historic Park at Promontory Summit, Utah.

This was the completion site of the original Transcontinental Railroad.

A special event was held on this date to acknowledge the anniversary with more

speeches, the dedication of a new Utah Copper Spike, a reenactment, and plenty

of display booths. The United States Post Office also debuted special stamps

commemorate the completion of the railroad.

Back in Ogden, crowds continued to gather around the Big Boy and gaze in

along with the 4014,

844 and the rest of the train were also on display for viewing.

Union Pacific also had a special display car open to the public.

After sitting on display for one more day, the big boy and train would begin

week -long return trip to Cheyenne.

On the morning of Sunday, May 12th, the special is seen entering Weber Canyon on

the first day of the return trip.

Today's run will take the train from Ogden to Evanston.

About 80 tickets were sold to the general public as part of a fundraiser

Golden Spike Foundation and the Union Pacific Museum.

Coat seats were priced at $3 ,000 and dome seats at $5 ,000.

More people than ever were gathered to see the 4014 on this beautiful sunny

spring Sunday.

All along the rail line, folks were standing trackside to wait for the big

Day two of the return trip came with morning sun but a lighter crowd.

On this day, the 4014 would travel from Evanston to Rock Springs, Wyoming.

The train was held about 20 minutes beyond its 8 a .m. scheduled departure

to wait for a high -priority eastbound intermodal container train.

With the intermodal train out of the way, the big boy departed for Rock

After a service stop at Granger, the train continued on toward Green River

Rock Springs.

Following the arrival into Rock Springs, the train would sit on display for two

full days before continuing to Rollins, Laramie, and eventually Cheyenne.

It is here that we leave the Big Boy as it disappears with its train into the

distance. Thank you for coming along on this special journey for UP 4014 Big

Boy's inaugural run, and a big thanks to Ed Dickens and the Union Pacific Steam

Team, along with the Union Pacific Railroad, for making this long -time

for so many a reality.

To find out more about the Union Pacific Steam Program, please visit upsteam

.com. For more on Spike 150 and the anniversary of the Transcontinental

Railroad, visit Spike150 .com.

Last but not least, to learn more about the Rail Giants Train Museum, longtime

home of the 4014 Big Boy, go to RailGiants .org.

Be sure to check out my Instagram, Facebook, and Flickr pages for even more

great content.

And remember, there's always a new video around the bend every Friday morning at

9 a .m. Pacific Time right here on the YouTube channel.

Until next time, I'm Mike Armstrong.

I'll see you down the line.

Thanks for watching.