Union Pacific’s giant Big Boy locomotive No. 4014 begins its Midwest tour next week and will travel through Illinois and Missouri next month.
According to an Associated Press report, the locomotive is “longer than two city buses, weighs more than a fully loaded Boeing 747 and can pull 16 Statues of Liberty over a mountain” and will depart Cheyenne, Wyoming on Friday, August 28, heading east through Nebraska and Iowa before crossing the border into Illinois.
Big Boy will be on display in Rochelle, Illinois (about 30 miles south of Rockford) and will then make his way through Nokomis, Illinois (about 80 miles southeast of Jacksonville) before spending the night in St. Louis on Wednesday, September 11th for a special event for Union Pacific employees.
St. Louis is also home to the National Museum of Transportation, which houses the Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4006 and the Aerotrain No. 3, built by General Motors.
From St. Louis, it will travel southwest to Poplar Bluff, Missouri, then continue through Arkansas and Texas, where it will be exhibited in Houston.
The locomotive will then continue north and return to Cheyenne by Wednesday, October 23.
For safety reasons, remember to stay at least 25 feet away from the Big Boy locomotive.
