Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy is being restored for operation
Photo credit: Union Pacific
What a beauty! What a beast! Union Pacific, number 4014, one of the 4-8-8-4 Big Boys will be restored at Union Pacific’s rail yard in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The locomotive has begun the move, being towed first to the Colton, California UP yard and then, this spring, it will be towed to Cheyenne for the restoration.
The 1.2 million pound locomotive is 132 feet long and traveled over a million miles in its 20 years of service between 1941 and 1961 and seeing it again reminds us of an earlier era, a time when these giant steam locomotives were a regular sight in some parts of the USA. These magnificent "Big Boys" were among the largest steam locomotives ever made.
Number 4014 has been on display at the RailGiants Train Museum, Fairplex, Pomona, California. The restoration is expected to take up to five years, after which it will travel the country to give railfans a chance to see this enormous engine in operation once again. What a sight that will be!
Link: Union Pacific