This Thursday will be Union Pacific Railroad’s 160th anniversary. And to honor that momentous time, the Union Pacific 4014, perhaps better known as Big Boy No. 4014, will travel from Wyoming to Denver to celebrate.
The roundtrip tour will start in Cheyenne, Wyoming and ride south on July 28 to Denver, where it will stay on display at Union Station on July 29 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
So bring your train enthusiasts, both big and small on Thursday to see the historic Big Boy. It will be here for just one day.
On the following day, July 30, the Union Pacific Museum will host a special Big Boy passenger trip from Denver to Cheyenne as part of the annual gala fundraiser for the nonprofit museum. Passengers, who must be 18 or older, will return to Denver by motorcoach. This is a great and rare opportunity for adults to take a ride on a piece of history.
During World War II, Union Pacific built twenty-five Big Boy locomotives. Eight of these have been preserved, leaving No. 4014 the only functioning locomotive of the original twenty-five. They are all 132 feet long and weigh about 1.2 million pounds.
Big Boy No. 4014 was delivered to Union Pacific in December 1941 and would travel more than one million miles before it was retired in December 1961. It returned to service in May 2019 after a lengthy restoration process.
With Denver and Cheyenne both having rich histories in the railroad, this will be a treasure to view for train enthusiasts, history buffs and all Coloradoans alike. Don’t miss this moment in history.
- INKLUSION
