Union Pacific Railroad has announced the full schedule for where Big Boy No. 4014, the world’s largest operating steam locomotive, will travel during the Heartland of America Tour this fall, including nearly a dozen stops in East Texas.
In Houston, Big Boy No. 4014 will be on display at the Amtrak station at 902 Washington Ave. on Oct. 6 from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. CT.
In Fort Worth, the locomotive will be on display at 275 W. Lancaster Ave. on Oct. 10 from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. CT and Oct. 11 from 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. CT.
Admission to see the Big Boy during display days is free and open to the public.
If you can’t make it to either city to see Big Boy No. 4014, there will be whistle stops in the following Texas cities:
Sept. 17: Big Sandy
Sept. 19: Mexia
Oct. 4: Navasota and Hempstead
Oct. 7: Spring and Navasota
Oct. 8: Bryan
Oct. 9: Marlin and West
The railroad emphasized it’s important to keep safety top of mind when trying to see the Big Boy in person and provided the following guidelines:
l Onlookers and drones should always stay back 25 feet from all railroad tracks.
l Never take a picture or video standing on the track or the ballast and never climb on the locomotive or equipment.
l Don’t trespass. Railroad tracks, trestles, yards and rights of way are private property.
l Never assume tracks are abandoned and always expect a train.
l Be a safe and considerate driver when traveling to different locations. Do not pace the train with your car.
No. 4014 is the only Big Boy steam locomotive in operation today. Union Pacific restored it in 2019 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad’s completion.
In all, 25 Big Boy locomotives were built for Union Pacific to haul heavy freight during World War II. No. 4014 is massive, even by today’s standards. It measures 132 feet long and weighs a whopping 1.2 million pounds.
Because of its great length, the frame of the Big Boy is “hinged,” or articulated, to allow it to negotiate curves. It has a 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement, meaning it has four wheels on the leading set of pilot wheels that guide the engine, eight driver wheels, another set of eight drivers, and four wheels following that support the rear of the locomotive.
When they ran in normal operations, the massive engines normally traveled between Ogden, Utah, and Cheyenne, Wyoming.