Vintage locomotive’s tour will include Imperial Valley and Yuma
POMONA, Calif. — Union Pacific Railroad has announced that the world’s largest steam locomotive, the Big Boy 4014, will be passing through Southern California, including Imperial County, next month.
The giant locomotive will pull a special Union Pacific passenger train consisting of immaculately maintained 1950s-era Heritage Fleet passenger cars commemorating the 150th anniversary of the completion of the first transcontinental railroad at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869.
On its “Great Race Across the Southwest,” the Big Boy train will depart its home base in Cheyenne, Wyo., on Sept. 27 and arrive in the greater Los Angeles area on Oct. 9. Along the way, it will visit Yermo, Barstow, Victorville, and descend famous Cajon Pass into the Los Angeles Basin.
On Oct. 12 and 13, the train will make a special excursion with passengers from West Colton to Barstow on Saturday and from Barstow to West Colton on Sunday. Tickets for both days are available at www.4014traintix.com, and more information on the excursions is available at www.4014journeys.org.
The train will depart the West Colton area on Oct. 15 and travel through Beaumont, Indio, and Niland on its way to Yuma, Ariz. The tour will continue through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Arkansas, Kansas and Colorado before returning to Cheyenne in November.
The Big Boy tour schedule is available on Union Pacific’s website: www.up.com/heritage/ steam/schedule/index.htm.
Twenty-five Big Boys were built exclusively for 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.
There are seven Big Boys on public display in various cities around the country. They can be found in St. Louis; Dallas; Omaha, Neb.; Denver; Scranton, Pa.; Green Bay, Wis., and Cheyenne.
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, 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.