Union Pacific "Big Boy" 4014 Steam Engine in East Texas

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The railroad has played an important part in the history and development of Texas over the years. Companies like the Texas & Pacific Railway and the Cotton Belt Route were dominant transportation giants in the area.

Today, interest in railroads remains high with residents, railfans and tourists, as witnessed in August of 2021 with the tour of the Union Pacific 4014 "Big Boy" train through Texas and other states.

And now, in 2024, 4014 "Big Boy" has returned to Texas, and can be seen in places like Big Sandy, Dallas, Hearne, Fort Worth, Bryan and Houston. Read more about the 2024 schedule on the Union Pacific Steam Tour website.

About Union Pacific Big Boys & Historical Fleet

Twenty-five Big Boys were built exclusively for the Union Pacific Railroad, the first of which was delivered in 1941. The locomotives were 132 feet long and weighed 1.2 million pounds. Because of their great length, the frames of the Big Boys were "hinged," or articulated, to allow them to negotiate curves.

They had a 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement, which meant they had four wheels on the leading set of "pilot" wheels which guided the engine, eight drivers, another set of eight drivers, and four wheels following which supported the rear of the locomotive. The massive engines normally operated between Ogden, Utah, and Cheyenne, Wyoming.

The engines were originally going to be called the "Wasatch" series, but a worker at the locomotive works wrote "Big Boy" in chalk on the front of one ... the name stuck!

Big Boy No. 4014 was delivered to Union Pacific in December 1941. The locomotive was retired in December 1961, having traveled 1,031,205 miles in its 20 years in service. Union Pacific reacquired No. 4014 from the RailGiants Museum in Pomona, California, in 2013, and relocated it back to Cheyenne to begin a multi-year restoration process. It returned to service in May 2019 to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad's Completion.

No other railroad in the United States has retained its historical equipment and honored its past as much as the Union Pacific (UP). The preservation of its fleet speaks to the high value UP places on its heritage and its role in America's history. Most of the passenger cars are closer to a half-century old, built during the height of passenger train travel. Each car is unique and chronicles a different chapter of Union Pacific's past.

Only eight of the "Series 4000" engines survive today, and only one, 4014, is operational. Union Pacific also operates Northern No. 844, with its 4-8-4 configuration, the last steam engine built for the railroad.

Complete List of the Eight Surviving Big Boy Engines

• 4004 - Holliday Park, Cheyenne, Wyoming
• 4005 - Forney Transportation Museum, Denver, Colorado
• 4006 - Museum of Transportation, St. Louis, Missouri
• 4012 - Steamtown National Historic Site, Scranton, Pennsylvania
• 4014 - Union Pacific Steam Shop, Cheyenne, Wyoming
• 4017 - National Railroad Museum, Green Bay, Wisconsin
• 4018 - Museum of the American Railroad, Frisco, Texas
• 4023 - Lauritzen Gardens, Omaha, Nebraska

Big Boy in Big Sandy, Texas in 2024 On September 17, 2024, the city hosted a whistle stop for Union Pacific's UP 4014 "Big Boy" steam excursion as part of its "Heartland of America Tour". The event was attended by thousands from all over Texas and neighboring states, and streamed to more on the Internet via the VirtualRailFan webcam in Big Sandy. The settlement was first known as Big Sandy Switch because the Texas and Pacific (T&P) Railway intersected there with a narrow-gauge railroad called the Tyler Tap. The St. Louis Southwestern Railway (The Cotton Belt Route) ran along a basic north-south orientation, from Mount Pleasant to Tyler, while the T&P ran east-west through Big Sandy from Dallas to Shreveport. Today, up to 32 trains from the Union Pacific (UP) Railroad pass through Big Sandy daily. It lies at the intersection of the Corsicana Subdivsion, Mineola Subdivision and the Pine Bluff Subdivision. Two Amtrak Texas Eagle passenger trains pass through the city daily, the westbound train #21 in the morning and the eastbound train #22 in late afternoon. The closest stops for Amtrak are Mineola and Longview. Big Sandy is also a crew change point for the Union Pacific. Because of the frequent and varied railroad traffic, Big Sandy has become a popular location for railfans. Railroad activity is even streamed on the Internet via the VirtualRailFan webcam in Big Sandy. Big Boy No. 4014 arrives in Big Sandy

Union Pacific 4014 "Big Boy" Visits East Texas in 2021

The UP excursion train pulled by 4014 left Cheyenne, Wyoming on August 5, 2021. It traveled south through Fort Worth, Waxahachie, Hearne and down to Houston. After a visit to New Orleans, it headed north to Shreveport, east to Marshall and north again up to Jefferson on August 25. After stops in Texarkana, St. Louis, Kansas City, and Denver, the route took it back to the steam shop at its home in Cheyenne on September 7, 2021. Read more about Union Pacific heritage

We had the thrill of watching it and hearing the sounds of the engine and its whistles three different times on the segment from Marshall up to Jefferson!

When we saw the train, the engine was pulling 12 cars, some of which are shown below. The last three cars on the consist were removed in Kansas City, for movement to their home base in Council Bluffs, Iowa: UPP 9005, Walter Dean, dome lounge; UPP 5011, City of Denver, diner lounge; and UPP 119, Kenefick, business car.

Also included in the consist was UP 4015, an EMD SD70M, for backup power and dynamic braking.

Union Pacific 4014 "Big Boy" engine pulling the steam excursion train into Jefferson, Texas, on August 25, 2021 (Staff Photos)

Ed Dickens, chief of 4014's restoration project, and engineer on this excursion, at the controls as it moved into Jefferson

Water car UPP 809 ... "Jim Adams"

The "helper" engine ... UP 4015 EMD SD70M

The "Promontory" car ... carrying the "Experience the Union Pacific", a multi-media walk-through exhibition that provides a glimpse at the past while telling the story of modern-day railroading.

The "Walter Dean" dome lounge car

The business car ... "Kenefick"

Union Pacific power car UPP 2066, originally built as postal storage car number 5816. Power cars have living quarters for an electrician who monitors the system, and additional refrigerators and freezers for commissary services.

Big Boy #4018 at the Museum of the American Railroad in Frisco, Texas UP "Big Boy" #4018 at the Museum of the American Railroad Founded in 1962 and located in Frisco, the Museum of the American Railroad is a not-for-profit Texas corporation dedicated to celebrating the heritage and exploring the future of railroads through historic preservation, research, and educational programming. The museum collects artifacts and archival material from the railroad industry to exhibit and interpret their significance in American life and culture. In its most ambitious project to date, the Museum closed its location in Dallas’ Fair Park to relocate its collections and operations 30 miles north to 8004 North Dallas Parkway in Frisco, Texas. Phone the Museum at 214.428.0101 or visit their website at ... Museum of the American Railroad

Upper East Texas Railroad Map (courtesy of TxDOT)

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