Big Boy Train Engine Visits Our Region

The Union Pacific, “Big Boy” 1941 train engine, #4014, is making the rounds throughout the southwest, including stops for Kit Carson, Hugo and Deer Trail on Sunday, September 5th.

If you’re a train enthusiast, you need to view this last of its kind locomotive, capable of hauling major loads up steep, mountainous tracks through the Rocky Mountain Regions in Utah and Wyoming.  Standing 17 feet tall and 132 feet in length, and weighing 1.2million pounds, the engine develops 6,000 horsepower and is constructed in an articulated fashion, allowing segments of the train engine to navigate turns and corners.

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.

Big Boy #4014 will be in Kit Carson at the Young Street crossing from 10 to 10:30am, Hugo at the 4^th Avenue crossing from 12:15 to 12:45pm and in Deer Trail at the Burton Street crossing from 2:45 to 3:15pm.