Hundreds Greet Big Boy 4014 In Smoke And Heat At Central Avenue Rail Crossing

CHICAGO RIDGE, IL—Hundreds gathered in wildfire smoke and heat at the Central Avenue and 106th Street rail crossing for another look at Union Pacific’s Big Boy 4014 as he heads back home from his coast-to-coast tour to Cheyenne, WY.

Many spectators had apparently broken into their stash of N95 face masks left over from the pandemic. Antsy kids cried in the heat until a grandmother broke out a box of crayons and toy cars. There were also plenty of rocks and sticks for kids to play with.

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Like his first swing through the south suburbs in June, Big Boy was late departing South Holland, where the mighty locomotive had spent the night waiting for morning freight traffic to clear. Originally expected to arrive in Chicago Ridge and Oak Lawn between 9:15 and 9:45 a.m., Big Boy was more than an hour late in arriving.

Video provided by singing cowboy Tommy Joe, owner of Oak Lawn Batmobile Rental.

While eyes were transfixed on the blue dot on the Union Pacific Big Boy Steam Tracker, a half dozen CSX switch operators spread out up and down the rails to ensure Big Boy was headed in the right track.

The switch operators called out that Big Boy was in Dolton, boyhood home of Pope Leo XIV, and then crossing over the Cal-Sag Channel in Blue Island, Big Boy soon came racing through Chicago Ridge, steaming toward Dwight, IL. Almost as quickly as the crowd of 400 spectators gathered, it quickly disbanded.

Twenty-five Big Boys were commissioned exclusively for Union Pacific Railroad, the first of which was delivered in 1941. These massive locomotives were built to haul heavy equipment supporting the war effort, normally operating between Ogden, Utah, and Cheyenne, Wyoming. The Big Boys are 133 feet long and weigh 1.2 million pounds, according to the Union Pacific website.

The Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 has been embarking on a coast-to-coast tour in honor of America’s 250th birthday, bringing a shot of goodwill that the country needs right now.

The tour has made celebrities of the crew, particularly Ed Dickens, the steam locomotive engineer, who was instrumental in the 1941 steam engine’s restoration. Ed gave Chicago Ridge looky-loos a little warning blast of steam to get them to move further back from the tracks.

The best part was seeing all the videos that popped up on local social media.

Big Boy 4014 will be winding his way along Old Route 66, which is also celebrating its centennial year. Here is 4014’s weekend schedule.