Iron Horses #15397

The Story

Two Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives sit side by side at Steamtown in Scranton, PA.  The 4014 on the left is the only operational engine out of seven Big Boys remaining, shown here unfired. This was during a scheduled stop at Steamtown during 4014’s epic trip across the country and back to celebrate America’s 250th birthday, and a fitting tribute it was! It was during this week-long stop at Steamtown that the crew finally got a well-earned break after two months of touring the country and working every day…a chance to go to their homes in the West. Upon returning to Pennsylvania roughly a week later, they picked up where they left off, taking 4014 back to home base at the Union Pacific steam shop in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Tours are offered there on a limited basis; check before you go to get advanced tickets.

If you can only get to Scranton, PA, you can visit 4012 on static display there. It doesn’t run, but has been cosmetically restored. Nevertheless, still a very impressive machine.

Initially, the Union Pacific Railroad had twenty-five of these huge Big Boy locomotives built in the mid-1940s, intended to haul trains over the Rocky Mountains unassisted, which they did. The Big Boys didn’t get used very long, as it was the time of “dieselization” among the railroads when steam engines were phased out of service. The Union Pacific Big Boy represents the apex of railroad steam power development. Today, these museum pieces remain the largest of their kind.

A Big Boy locomotive weighs over a million pounds, with a length of 130-plus feet. The original Big Boy locomotives were built to run on mechanical stoker-fired coal, but the 4014 has been converted to run on oil.

Location: Steamtown at Scranton, Pennsylvania.  © Andrew Dierks