One of Union Pacific's popular steam engines will visit Missouri later this year as it tours the country.
The Big Boy No. 4014 is scheduled to depart Cheyenne, Wyoming, on Aug. 5, traveling through Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Illinois, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and Wyoming.
While railroad officials are still working out the details of overnight and whistle-stops along the way, the Big Boy will be on display Aug. 29 in St. Louis.
The route the engine will take should bring it through Jefferson City, but whether it will stop in the Capital City is not known at this time.
Twenty-five Big Boys were built exclusively for Union Pacific, the first of which was delivered in 1941. The locomotives were 132 feet long and weighed 1.2 million pounds. Because of their great length, the frames of the Big Boys were "hinged," or articulated, to allow them to negotiate curves. They had a 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement, which meant they had four wheels on the leading set of "pilot" wheels which guided the engine, eight drivers, another set of eight drivers, and four wheels following which supported the rear of the locomotive. The engines normally operated between Ogden, Utah and Cheyenne.
There are seven Big Boys on public display in various cities around the country. They can be found in St. Louis, Dallas, Omaha, Denver, Green Bay, Cheyenne and Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Big Boy No. 4014 was delivered to Union Pacific in December 1941. The locomotive was retired in December 1961, having traveled 1,031,205 miles in its 20 years in service.
No. 4014 was re-acquired and restored to operational shape by Union Pacific, then placed in excursion service in May 2019 at its new home in Cheyenne as the largest, heaviest and most powerful operational steam locomotive in the world. This is the first tour since the locomotive was restored for 2019's "Great Race" tours celebrating the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad's completion.
A complete list of overnight and whistle stops will be released at upsteam.com.
Union Pacific also announced this week they would have a "We Are One" summer tour that features a new commemorative locomotive dedicated to diversity and togetherness. The brightly colored locomotive will start its journey in Houston on Juneteenth, (which is today), the holiday that celebrates freedom and marks the end of slavery in the U.S.
UP No. 1979 is just the 18th commemorative locomotive that UP has produced. It honors the company's nine Employee Resource Groups and the work they do supporting diversity, inclusion and equality. The unit commemorates the year Union Pacific's first ERG - the Black Employee Network - was established in 1979.
This engine will pass through several locations, including the railroad's Missouri River route between Kansas City and St. Louis which would take it through Jefferson City. The railroad did not announce exact times of when the engine would come through.