Union Pacific 4014
Preserved Union Pacific steam locomotive
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Union Pacific 4014 is a preserved 4884-1 class 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" type steam locomotive owned and operated by the Union Pacific (UP) as part of its heritage fleet. Built in November 1941 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in Schenectady, New York, it was assigned to haul heavy freight trains in the Wasatch mountain range. The locomotive was retired from revenue service on December 7, 1961, and was donated to the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society; thereafter, it was displayed in Fairplex at the RailGiants Train Museum in Pomona, California.
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In 2013, UP re-acquired the locomotive and launched a restoration project at its Steam Shop in Cheyenne, Wyoming. In May 2019, No. 4014 moved under its own power after sitting dormant for almost six decades, becoming the world's largest operational steam locomotive and the only operating Big Boy locomotive of the eight that remain in existence.[3] It now operates in excursion service for the UP steam program. No. 4014 became the first mainline steam locomotive to be equipped with the positive train control system in 2021.
History
Design
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The Big Boy class was developed by Union Pacific (UP) and built by the American Locomotive Company in the 1940s to handle the 1.14% eastbound ruling grade of Utah's Wasatch Range.[5] A team led by UP's chief mechanical officer Otto Jabelmann adapted the design of the 4-6-6-4 Challenger, enlarging the firebox to about 235 by 96 inches (5.97 m × 2.44 m) (about 155 sq ft or 14.4 m2), lengthening the boiler, adding four driving wheels, and reducing the diameter of the driving wheels from 69 to 68 in (1,753 to 1,727 mm).[2][5] Originally, the 4-8-8-4 class was rumored to be called Wasatch, after the Wasatch Mountains, but acquired the Big Boy nickname after an unknown ALCO worker scrawled it in chalk on the smokebox door of No. 4000, the first of its class.[5]
The Big Boy was articulated like the Mallet locomotive design, although without compounding.[6] It was designed for stability at 80 miles per hour (130 km/h), allowing for a wide margin of reliability and safety, as steam locomotives normally operated well below that speed in freight service.[7] Peak power was reached around 35 mph (56 km/h); optimal tractive effort was maintained up to around 10 mph (16 km/h).[7] It is longer than two city buses and weighs more than a Boeing 747.[8] The locomotives were equipped with a Hancock long-bell 3-chime "steamboat" whistle.[9]
Revenue service and retirement
ALCO built No. 4014 in November 1941 at a cost of $265,174 ($5,804,000 in 2025[10]) and delivered it the following month to UP, which placed it in revenue service.[2][5] No. 4014 was part of the first group of 20 Big Boys, called 4884–1.[1] Designed to haul 3,600-short-ton (3,214-long-ton; 3,266 t) freight trains over the Wasatch Range, the Big Boys routinely pulled freight trains of up to 4,200 short tons (3,750 long tons; 3,810 t).[2] During a test on April 2, 1943, No. 4014 pulled 65 freight cars between Ogden, Utah, and Evanston, Wyoming, generating a maximum of 5,530 hp (4,120 kW).[5][11]
No. 4014's last routine repairs took place in 1956.[12] The locomotive completed its final revenue run on July 21, 1959, just hours before the last revenue run by any Big Boy.[2] It had traveled 1,031,205 miles (1,659,564 km) during its revenue service.[2][5] UP retired No. 4014 on December 7, 1961.[7] All of the remaining Big Boys were retired by 1962, when their duties were taken over by diesel locomotives and gas turbine-electric locomotives (GTELs).[2][13] That same year, Union Pacific donated No. 4014 to the Southern California chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society in Pomona, California, where it became one of the eight Big Boys preserved around the United States.[7][14]
Ownership transfer and restoration
"No other railroad has retained its historical equipment or honored its American roots like Union Pacific. Our steam locomotive program is a source of great pride to UP employees past and present. We are very excited about the opportunity to bring history to life by restoring No. 4014."
In late 2012, UP officials announced that they were about to obtain a Big Boy locomotive for restoration to operational condition for excursion service.[15] On July 23, 2013, UP announced that the Southern California Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society (R&LHS) had agreed to return No. 4014 to UP.[16][a] Ed Dickens, who had been the senior manager of UP heritage fleet operations since 2010, would lead the project.[19][20] On November 14, Dickens and his team prepared No. 4014 for its journey to the UP Steam Shop in Cheyenne.[19][21] They had it towed out from its display site at the museum, on temporary track, taking four days to get through the adjacent parking lot.[19][21]
On January 26, 2014, No. 4014 was pulled from the Los Angeles County Fairplex to the Covina station on Metrolink trackage by No. 1996, an SD70ACe diesel locomotive painted in Southern Pacific colors.[22][23] It presently arrived at UP's West Colton Yard in Bloomington, California,[24] where it sat on display until April 28, when it began its journey to Cheyenne, being hauled by SD70Ms Nos. 4014 and 4884.[25][b] After arriving at the Steam Shop's roundhouse on May 8,[28] No. 4014 sat largely idle for two years while the UP steam crew worked to overhaul UP's FEF-3 4-8-4 steam locomotive No. 844.[29][30] The Steam Shop also used the time to expand and upgrade its facilities to accommodate the Big Boy.[31]
In August 2016, a month after No. 844's repairs and inspection were complete, UP officials announced that the restoration work of No. 4014 had begun under Dickens' supervision.[32][33] By early 2017, the locomotive had been completely disassembled.[34] Some new parts were fabricated, including the rod brasses, top boiler check valve, and lubricator check valves.[34] The leading wheels, driving wheels, and trailing wheels were sent to the Strasburg Rail Road in Strasburg, Pennsylvania, for repairs and upgrades.[35][36] The drivers were given new tires, while the roller bearings on the axles of the leading and trailing wheels were replaced.[36] The axles, crankpins, and eccentric cranks, which were part of the driving gear made to transmit the wheels' movement, were also replaced.[36]
The restoration work included one major alteration: converting the coal-burning locomotive to run on No. 5 fuel oil.[7] This was done by replacing the firebox grates with a fire pan and an oil burner.[37] This made No. 4014 the first Big Boy to undergo a coal-to-oil conversion since No. 4005, which ran on oil from 1946 until it was converted back to coal in 1948 due to uneven heating in its large, single-burner firebox.[14][38] No. 4014's old firebox grates were salvaged and used on the Milwaukee Road 261 steam locomotive.[39][c]
In March 2018, it was reported that No. 4014 was being reassembled;[37] ten months later, the locomotive's restoration was nearly finished.[41] On February 6, 2019, No. 4014's boiler passed a hydrostatic test and the locomotive was successfully test-fired on April 9.[42][43][44] Around 9 p.m. on May 1, 2019, No. 4014 moved under its own power for the first time in almost 60 years.[45] Its tender, No. 25-C-311, originally belonged to UP Challenger No. 3985, another locomotive in UP's steam program.[46][47] The next evening, the locomotive made its first test run, from Cheyenne to Nunn, Colorado.[48] One estimate put the cost of restoration at $4 million or more.[49]
Positive train control
In December 2018, Union Pacific asked the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to exempt UP Nos. 4014, 3985, and 844 from federal positive train control (PTC) requirements;[50] three months later, the FRA officials responded that such waivers were not needed.[51]
In 2021, UP would equip No. 4014 with PTC anyway, making it the first mainline steam locomotive to be so equipped.[52][53] Initially, its PTC display was powered by computers and equipment in its helper diesel locomotive, UP SD70M No. 4015.[d][53][54] In May 2024, PTC equipment was installed in a cabinet in the tender, and a third dynamo added to the locomotive to provide electrical power, allowing No. 4014 to run without a diesel helper.[55][56]
Excursion service
Once restored, No. 4014 joined No. 844 in excursion service.[57][58] It also became the world's largest operational steam locomotive, displacing No. 3985.[59] Dickens, who had led the restoration project, became No. 4014's regular engineer.[60] In May 2019, No. 4014 made its first excursion run amid the celebrations marking 150 years since the completion of the first transcontinental railroad.[61][62] After its May 4 christening at the Cheyenne Depot Museum, No. 4014 — doubleheaded with No. 844 — traveled to Ogden, Utah.[62][63][64] No. 4014 subsequently made two tours on its own.[65][66] From July 8 to August 8, it visited the Midwestern United States,[65] including brief stops at Saint Paul Union Depot and the Lake Superior Railroad Museum;[67][68] it then toured the Southwestern United States from September 27 to November 26.[66]
In January 2020, Union Pacific officials announced that the UP Steam Team would retire No. 3985, which was in poor mechanical condition.[59][46] Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, UP announced in March 2020 that it would cancel that year's steam operations.[69] Excursion operations resumed in August and September 2021 with No. 4014 doing tour stops in Fort Worth and Houston, Texas; New Orleans, Louisiana; North Little Rock, Arkansas; St. Louis, Missouri; and Denver, Colorado.[70]
In May 2022, one month after No. 3985 was donated to the Railroading Heritage of Midwest America (RRHMA) in Silvis, Illinois, the museum announced a plan to convert No. 4014's original tender, No. 25-C-116, to carry fuel oil instead of coal.[71] This would enable the Big Boy to use its original tender, allowing Tender No. 25-C-311 to be reunited with No. 3985.[71][72][73]
In late July 2022, No. 4014 pulled the Museum Special excursion between Cheyenne and the Denver Union Station to benefit the Union Pacific Railroad Museum.[74][75][e] On September 14, 2022, No. 4014 was fired up to move Union Pacific 5511 from the Cheyenne roundhouse and around the yard for testing before the 2-10-2 locomotive left for the RRHMA two months later.[78][79]
In June 2023, No. 4014 ran from Cheyenne to Omaha, Nebraska, with the Home Run Express Tour, for display at Charles Schwab Field Omaha on June 15–21 and 24–25.[80][81] During the return journey to Cheyenne on June 29, No. 4014 banked a stalled freight train up the grade in Blair, Nebraska.[82] Two cab rides on the July 3 journey from Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, to Cheyenne were sold for $9,500 apiece to benefit the Union Pacific Railroad Museum.[83][f]
Two tours were finalized in 2024.[85] The first ran from June 30 to July 26, with stops at the Western Pacific Railroad Museum in Portola, California, on July 10,[86] Roseville, California, on July 12 and 13, and Ogden, Utah on July 20 and 21.[85] The second tour began on August 28 and concluded on October 23; it included stops in Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, and Illinois.[85] On the second tour's journey through Iowa in September, American comedian and former The Tonight Show host Jay Leno hitched a ride on No. 4014 to film the episode for his YouTube web series Jay Leno's Garage.[87] On July 17–19, 2025, No. 4014 made two whistle stops at Greeley, Colorado, followed by an appearance at the annual Cheyenne Frontier Days in Cheyenne.[88] It made another trip to Colorado on September 30 and October 1 that year.[89]
2026 coast-to-coast tour
In January 2026, UP announced that No. 4014 would undertake its first coast-to-coast tour, in conjunction with the United States Semiquincentennial anniversary.[90][91] The western leg of the tour began when the locomotive left Cheyenne on March 29, 2026: it included display stops in Sacramento, California, on April 10 and 11; and Ogden on April 18 and 19, and arrived back in Cheyenne on April 24.[92][93]
The eastern leg of the tour began on May 25, when No. 4014 went to Omaha for display on May 30.[94][95] After its stop in West Chicago, Illinois, on June 3, No. 4014 went to South Holland, Illinois, where it transferred to Norfolk Southern (NS) trackage for planned stops in Fort Wayne, Indiana; Buffalo, New York; and Scranton, Pennsylvania, before arriving in Philadelphia for the 4th of July weekend.[95][96] No. 4014 crossed the Genesee Arch Bridge in Portageville, New York, on June 11[97] and the Tunkhannock Viaduct in Nicholson, Pennsylvania for photos on June 13.[98][99] It then caught up with ex-Reading T-1 class 4-8-4 No. 2102, which was pulling an excursion from Pittston to Nesquehoning on the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad (RBMN).[100][101] The next day, No. 4014 left Nesquehoning with a sold-out UP excursion bound for Pittson to benefit the Union Pacific Railroad Museum.[102] Afterwards, it went to the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton to reunite with fellow Big Boy No. 4012.[102][103] Upon its arrival, it ran side-by-side with Baldwin Locomotive Works 0-6-0 switcher No. 26.[102] On July 1, No. 4014 left Steamtown to meet up with No. 2102 again and the RBMN's No. 1776 diesel locomotive on its way to Muhlenberg Township, Pennsylvania, near Reading on July 2 via RBMN trackage.[100][104][g] The Big Boy then traveled to Philadelphia for the American semiquincentennial ceremonies on July 4-5.[106][107]
No. 4014 began its return trip on July 6, departing Philadelphia.[107] The following day, it made a whistle stop at Lebanon, Pennsylvania; met a specially-moved Acela II at Harrisburg; and traversed the Rockville Bridge.[108][109] On July 8, running on ex-Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) rails, it stopped in Lewistown[110] and then Altoona, Pennsylvania, where it sat on display at the Railroaders Memorial Museum on July 9-10.[111][112] On July 11, the locomotive traversed the ex-PRR Horseshoe Curve in Blair County, Pennsylvania, pausing for photos; went through Allegheny Mountain; and stopped at Cresson and Leetsdale, which was near the Pittsburgh area.[113][114] Continuing on to Ohio, No. 4014 made stops at Struthers (July 12), Rocky River (July 13), Fostoria (July 14), and Continental (July 15).[115][116] On July 17, upon arrival in the Chicago area, No. 4014 was transferred to UP's ex-Alton route for its journey to St. Louis.[117]
See also
Notes
- On February 22, 2014, UP EMD SD40-2C No. 3105 (née Missouri Pacific No. 6027), UP insulated boxcar No. 453665, and bay window caboose UP No. 24567 (née Rock Island No. 17149) took No. 4014's place in the museum.[17][18]
- No. 4015 is now painted as the 1616 Abraham Lincoln commemorative locomotive.
- UP originally announced on April 11, 2022, that No. 4014 would tour the Northwestern United States, starting on June 26 in commemoration of UP's 160th anniversary, but the tour was canceled on April 22 so UP could reduce supply chain congestion.[76][77]
- UP's original plan was to auction off one cab ride.[84] But on June 23, UP informed its Steam Club members that the auction "was manipulated by an individual and did not result in an award to the highest bidder" and that as a result, the museum would sell two tickets, priced at $9,500 each, at 5 p.m. CDT on its website.[83]
