The Union Pacific Steam Team is busy making final preparations for the May 4 christening of the ‘Big Boy’ No. 4014 in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Final touches on its paint job are being applied and the last necessary tests are being conducted. To ensure the Big Boy is ready for its big debut, No. 844’s whistle-stop tour that was scheduled for this Saturday and Sunday, April 27-28, has been cancelled. Instead, No. 844 will double-head with No. 4014 from Cheyenne to Ogden on May 4 after the 9:30am MT christening ceremony.
This new schedule will give the UP Steam Team more time to complete final preparations for No. 4014. The latest tour schedule is available at UPSteam.com.
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Watch it live on Facebook
Union Pacific will be streaming the May 9 ceremonies live via the Union Pacific Facebook page. If you’re following their Facebook page, you’ll be notified as soon as the cameras start rolling. However, the May 10 events taking place at Promontory will not be streamed live on Union Pacific’s Facebook page, but instead, will be available via other online outlets.
Back in 2016, following the completion of the overhaul of Union Pacific 4-8-4 Northern No. 844, the railroad started work on the restoration of four-cylinder articulated 4-8-8-4 ‘Big Boy’ No. 4014.
In late 2012, Union Pacific announced that it was interested in obtaining a ‘Big Boy’ and restoring it to operating condition. As a result, the group revealed that it had reacquired No. 4014 from the Southern California chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society in Pomona for that purpose. It had been donated to that society in December 1961 after having been retired from service on July 21, 1959.
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