Oh, boy, Big Boy: Massive steam locomotive to roll into Kansas City and area towns
Big Boy is coming back to town.
Local train fans will have several chances to see Big Boy No. 4014 when the giant locomotive tours Union Pacific’s system later this summer, including twice at Union Station.
It will arrive here at 7 p.m. Aug. 9 and remain on display until 8 a.m. Aug. 11. Big Boy will stop at Union Station again during its return trip to its home in Cheyenne, Wyoming, at 5:20 p.m. Aug. 31 and remain through 8 a.m. Sept. 2.
Other area towns where Big Boy can be viewed, if only for 30-45 minutes, will be Lawrence (3:30 p.m. Aug. 9 and 10 a.m. Sept. 2), Edwardsville (5:15 p.m. Aug. 9), Paola (11:15 a.m. Aug. 11), Pleasant Hill (2:15 p.m. Aug. 31), Lee’s Summit (3:20 p.m. Aug. 31) and Independence (4:20 p.m. Aug. 31).
The full schedule is available at up.com.
Twenty-five Big Boys, the world’s largest steam locomotives measuring 132 feet long and weighing 1.2 million pounds, were built for Union Pacific. No. 4014 was delivered in December 1941 and operated until December 1961, having traveled 1,031,205 miles. It was restored at Union Pacific’s steam shop in Cheyenne.
Big Boy No. 4014 visited here Nov. 18-19, 2019, when it toured as part of the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad.
Seven Big Boys are on public display around the country: Cheyenne; St. Louis; Dallas; Omaha; Denver; Scranton, Pennsylvania; and Green Bay, Wisconsin.
