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Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 pulls into Bunkie, Louisiana - By Ken Hulsey  From Union Pacific Union Pacific's Famed 'Big Boy' Steam Engine to Visit Dozens of Communities in Upcoming Tour The Heartland of America Tour includes four display days in Texas and Illinois Union Pacific Railroad today announced its famed Big Boy No. 4014 locomotive will stop in more than three dozen communities during its fall tour across 10 states, including four public display days in Houston, Fort Worth and the Chicago area.

Photo By Ken Hulsey From Union Pacific: Union Pacific's famed Big Boy No. 4014 , the world’s largest steam locomotive, will return to the rails in 2024 for a tour celebrating the railroad’s deep history and connection to communities, and its employees. The tour is expected to reach all four corners of Union Pacific’s 23-state system with anticipated stops in: Chicago, Illinois Dallas/Ft. Worth, Texas Houston, Texas Nampa, Idaho Portland, Oregon Roseville, California Salt Lake City, Utah Union Pacific's Big Boys: The Complete Story from History to Restoration Paperback - $28.99 @ Amazon.com - Order Here “As we move forward at Union Pacific, we remember where we came from; the Big Boy represents the history of Union Pacific and the United States,” said Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena. “When No. 4014 comes to town, we will celebrate with the communities where we operate, our employees and their families. Together, we will marvel at how far technology has brought us.” No. 4014 is the on...

Back in August of 2021 the world's largest operating steam locomotive, 4-8-8-4 Big Boy #4014, toured through the South and Midwest stopping at several cities and towns along the way. On the 23rd the famous locomotive ventured into central Louisiana and I fought off Covid symptoms to capture photos of it as it made a brief stop in Bunkie. Despite the grueling heat there was a large crowd of onlookers as the enormous locomotive slowly rumbled into town just after eleven in the morning. Its stay may have been just a brief stopover for maintenance, but I provided the enthusiastic onlookers a great view of this operating piece of American history. Union Pacific's Big Boys: The complete story from history to restoration - $36.62 @ Amazon.com As I mentioned I was just recovering from Covid at the time so my stamina in the blazing heat was extremely diminished. Regardless I had a passion to capture images of the locomotive that I used to sit in the cab of, before the Union Pacific rest...

 From the Union Pacific Steam Club We're sorry to announce that we're unable to reschedule the Big Boy No. 4014's West Coast Steam Tour in 2022 as we continue to focus on efforts to improve network operations. We will look to reschedule this tour in the future. Instead, No. 4014 will head south to Denver on Thursday, July 28. The Big Boy will be on display in Denver on Friday, July 29 along with the "Experience the Union Pacific" rail car, a multi-media walk-through exhibition that provides a glimpse of the past while telling the story of modern-day railroading. There will also be a live Q&A with the Steam Crew. Admission is free to Friday's display. On Saturday, July 30, Big Boy No. 4014 will pull the 2022 Museum Special, a special passenger trip from Denver to Cheyenne, hosted by the Union Pacific Museum . This excursion is the annual gala fundraiser for the Union Pacific Museum, a 501(c)(3) organization, and passengers must be 18 years or older to ride...

A tribute to the "Big Boy" locomotives produced by Union Pacific, "Last of the Giants" shows the end of a memorable era in Western Railroading, you'll see the development of steam power on the Union Pacific from 4-6-0s, 2-8-0s, and 2-8-2s up to 2-10-2s and even 4-12-2s, shown through film, photos and animated diagrams. This is followed by the development of compound articulated Mallets and simple articulateds such as the Challengers. Measuring 132 feet long and weighing one and one-quarter million pounds, the Big Boys were appropriately named. These were the largest and heaviest of their type and could pull a loaded 5-1/2 mile long train on level track. Their tenders carried a massive 28 tons of coal and 25,000 gallons of water; and with a heavy train a Big Boy could use all of this up in the first half of a 57-mile rum. Although there were only 25 Big Boys ever built, they ran up a total of nearly 26 million miles in 18 years, hauling billions of tons. - Kohs ...

Union Pacific's only operating Big Boy (4-8-8-4) roars through the sugar cane fields south of Locompte, Loisiana I have a long history with Union Pacific's recently restored Big Boy locomotive #4014. Way back in the 90s and early 2000s #4014 was on display as part of the Southern California Railway & Locomotive Historical Society at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds in Pomona, California. About twice a year  the family would visit the locomotives on display. I used to sit in the cab of #4014 and pretend I was driving the massive locomotive.  The Union Pacific donated #4014 to the Southern California Railway & Locomotive Historical Society way back in December 1961. Due to the dry climate in Southern California #4014 remained in almost pristine condition for fifty years. For years I heard a lot of talk about #4014 being restored to working condition. People always had excuses why the locomotive couldn't be restored, money being the number on issue, others argued tha...