- The world's largest steam engine, Big Boy No. 4014, returns to Utah this spring.
- Union Pacific's tour includes a major display in Ogden on April 18-19.
- The train is making its first-ever coast-to-coast run as part of America 250 celebrations.
OGDEN — The world's largest steam engine is coming back to Utah in the spring.
Union Pacific unveiled the first few dates of its ambitious transcontinental tour of Big Boy No. 4014 last week, revealing that the massive steam engine will have a "major public display" in Ogden on April 18-19.
It's in the middle of the first leg of the tour, which begins March 29 with the train departing from Cheyenne, Wyoming, for California. The leg ends with the train returning to Cheyenne on April 24.
The railroad company plans to publish a daily schedule with other stops along the route before the tour begins. The first leg will include one additional display event in Roseville, California, the weekend before the train arrives in Ogden.
"We are proud to honor our nation's great history and legacy of innovation with our heritage locomotives," said CEO Jim Vena, in a statement. "America has never been afraid to dream about what's possible — and neither is Union Pacific as we carry the grain that feeds families, the steel that builds cities and the household goods that stock store shelves."
Union Pacific last brought Big Boy No. 4014 to Utah two years ago, as part of its Westward Bound Tour that included stops in Morgan, Salt Lake City and Ogden. The 133-foot-long, 1.1-million-pound locomotive is one of the last remaining of its kind manufactured by the American Locomotive Company for Union Pacific to carry freight between Ogden and Cheyenne in the 1940s and 1950s.
The railroad company restored No. 4014 in 2019 for the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad's completion, and it has since been used on a few tours in the West and Midwest. But it will make its first-ever coast-to-coast run in celebration of the country's 250th birthday this year.
It will also be joined by a pair of commemorative locomotives on the tour, one of which is "No. 1776 — America250," which was designed for this year's major anniversary. Other legs of the tour will be announced later this year.
Spectators are urged to remain at least 25 feet from all railroad tracks, including drones. Drivers are also urged not to pace the train for a better view.
