Union Pacific's Mighty Big Boy 4014 Steam Locomotive Chugs Through South Suburbs

CHICAGO RIDGE, IL—Big Boy No.4014, Union Pacific’s 1.2 million-pound steam locomotive, chugged its way through Chicago Ridge Thursday morning on its way to the East Coast. Earlier in the morning, Big Boy 4014 passed through Elmhurst, Summit and Bridgeview.

The mighty Big Boy 4014 was parked outside of South Holland as of Thursday evening before it starts chugging again around 8 a.m. through Indiana and the Ohio River Valley for the East Coast. You can track the hefty locomotive on the Union Pacific Rail’s Big Boy 4014 Tracker. Eventually Big Boy 4014 will arrive in Philadelphia on July 4 for America’s 250th birthday.

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 No. 4014 was retired in December 1961 after traveling 1,031,205 miles. Union Pacific reacquired it from the RailGiants Train Museum in Pomona, CA, in 2013 and relocated it back to Cheyenne, WY, for a multi-year restoration. It returned to service in May 2019 to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad's Completion.

The seven other remaining Big Boys are on public display in St. Louis, MO; Dallas, TX; Omaha, NB; Denver, CO; Scranton, PA; Green Bay, WI; and Cheyenne, WY.

Big Boy is expected to come back through these parts July 17, when it arrives back in South Holland. The steam locomotive ends its journey July 29 in Cheyenne, WY.

~ Track Big Boy 4014's journey on the Union Pacific 4014 Big Boy Fans & Lovers Facebook page.