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Big Boy 4014 · The locomotive
Union Pacific calls the 2026 eastern leg the first time a Big Boy has steamed across the Mississippi River and into the Ohio Valley since the class was built — in its April 28, 2026 announcement of the tour. per up.com
ALCO built 25 Big Boys at its Schenectady, New York works between 1941 and 1944, all for Union Pacific. per trains.com They were designed to haul heavy freight over the Wasatch Range, working the grades between Ogden, Utah and Cheyenne, Wyoming. per up.com At the time they were among the largest steam locomotives ever built.
Union Pacific's own network covers 23 states, all in the western U.S. per up.com A Big Boy had no UP rails to run on east of roughly Chicago. The 2026 eastern leg only happens because the train runs on Norfolk Southern trackage east of there. per trains.com
Every mile beyond St. Louis in 2026 is new ground for the locomotive.
The eastern leg brought 4014 into Indiana, Ohio, New York, and Pennsylvania for the first time. Its first-ever Pennsylvania stop was North East, PA, on June 9, 2026. per cbsnews.com
From June 15–30, operating No. 4014 stood beside Steamtown's static No. 4012 in Scranton, Pennsylvania — the first time two Big Boys had been together since they were in service. per nps.gov
Plan the Scranton reunion stop →The tour rolls out against a historic deal: Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern announced a merger of roughly $85 billion in July 2025, with a Surface Transportation Board decision targeted for early 2027. per trains.com The eastern leg runs on the very NS lines at the center of it.