Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
The world-famous "Big Boy" charges east across Union Pacific's Geneva Subdivision at DeKalb, Illinois on the sunny afternoon of June 2, 2026. This gargantuan steam locomotive is headed all the way to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as part of a coast-to-coast tour celebrating 250 years of the United States of America.
Built in 1941 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Schenectady, New York, Union Pacific No. 4014 is the world's largest operating steam locomotive. It's over 132ft (40m) in overall length and weighs more than a Boeing 747! No. 4014 was retired by Union Pacific in 1961 and was donated to the Southern California chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society the following year. It was subsequently placed on display at their "RailGiants Train Museum" in Pomona, California for the decades that followed. In 2013, the group returned the locomotive to Union Pacific so that it could be restored to operation. By May of 2019, the skilled employees of Union Pacific's steam program had achieved their ambitious goal: "Big Boy" was moving under its own power once again.
The world-famous "Big Boy" charges east across Union Pacific's Geneva Subdivision at DeKalb, Illinois on the sunny afternoon of June 2, 2026. This gargantuan steam locomotive is headed all the way to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as part of a coast-to-coast tour celebrating 250 years of the United States of America.
Built in 1941 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Schenectady, New York, Union Pacific No. 4014 is the world's largest operating steam locomotive. It's over 132ft (40m) in overall length and weighs more than a Boeing 747! No. 4014 was retired by Union Pacific in 1961 and was donated to the Southern California chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society the following year. It was subsequently placed on display at their "RailGiants Train Museum" in Pomona, California for the decades that followed. In 2013, the group returned the locomotive to Union Pacific so that it could be restored to operation. By May of 2019, the skilled employees of Union Pacific's steam program had achieved their ambitious goal: "Big Boy" was moving under its own power once again.
