Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 steam locomotive will roll through Greeley at 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, making a stop at the 10th Street crossing near the Colorado Model Railroad Museum, 680 10th St.
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It will be the seventh year in a row the Big Boy has come through Greeley, but this year’s trip is special, celebrating the United States’ 250th birthday.
Instead of just making the trip from its home in Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Denver and back like it has in years past, the Big Boy embarked on a much longer journey this year.
Earlier this summer, it headed out west to Sacramento, before turning around, coming back through Cheyenne and going as far east as Philadelphia. Now making its way back home, the Greeley stop is the last on its nearly coast-to-coast journey.
Executive director Michelle Kempema said the Model Railroad Museum is expecting 4,000 to 6,000 people Wednesday, but she wouldn’t be surprised if the people who gather significantly exceed that number.
“I was in Pennsylvania earlier this summer,” she said. “And the crowds they expected almost doubled. … I’m surprised at how its such a melting pot of all people from all walks of life that come together to celebrates something that is American, in the form of a steel locomotive. There’s no politics, just joy.”
Here is a deeper look at the Big Boy, and its trip across the country, by the numbers.
The Big Boy No. 4014 — which has 14 wheels, is 133 feet long, by 16 feet, 4 inches wide and weighs 1,951,500 pounds — was one of 25 Big Boy locomotives built in 1941 to haul heavy equipment in support of the war effort.
At the time, with a maximum tractive power of 135,735 pounds, they were the largest and most powerful locomotives Union Pacific had ever commissioned.
For comparison, an average diesel locomotive is 74 feet long by 15 feet, 7 inches wide and weighs roughly 300,000 pounds.
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Decommissioned in 1961 after traveling 1,031,205 miles — and using 56,000 pounds of coal along the way — it is one of just eight Big Boys still in existence.
“Most of them were scrapped when they were retired,” Union Pacific senior communications manager Mike Jaixen said. “Eight were saved and donated to various organizations and put on display.”
Of those eight, the Big Boy No. 4014 is the only one in operation — making it the world’s largest operating steam locomotive. It returned to service in 2019 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad’s completion.
Its main tender holds 25,000 gallons of water, but it has two auxiliary tenders, which bring its total water capacity to roughly 100,000 gallons.
The Big Boy’s trek across the country is the first of its kind. No other locomotive or conductor has gone from one side of the country to the other, because no single railroad company has tracks that span across the country.
Union Pacific worked with Norfolk Southern to coordinate the trip to the East Coast.
“It’s amazing that two Class One railroads worked together so well to give this gift to the people,” Kempema said.
Throughout the journey, the Big Boy is making 58 stops across 14 states. Wednesday’s in Greeley is the last before it returns back home to Cheyenne.
For more information on Big Boy 4014’s cross-country trip, go to UP.com.
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