union pacific big boy steam locomotive

about this tour

The Union Pacific Big Boy is an articulated 4-8-8-4 steam locomotive built by Alco between 1941 and 1944 to haul long heavy freight trains over the Wasatch Range between Ogden, Utah and Green River, Wyoming. In later years they worked Sherman Hill out of Cheyenne. The Big Boy is the largest steam locomotive in the world and was not retired until 1961.

Today, eight Big Boys survive, with most on static display at museums across the United States. One of them, No. 4014 was put back into operation by Union Pacific in 2019 and is used to tour the entire UP system as a public relations tool.

The last operating Big Boy will again hit the mainline on June 30 this year. This month-long "Westward Bound" tour will honor Union Pacific's rich railroad legacy and celebrate the railroad's employees and communities it serves.

We will follow the Big Boy from Cheyenne to Pocatello then on to Ogden and finally to Roseville before it's return journey to Cheyenne. Railroad photographic enthusiasts from all over the world will have the opportunity to enjoy the excitement of experiencing the largest steam locomotive in the world operate on the mainline pulling a train at full speed!

This tour will cater mostly to rail enthusiasts from Europe that wants maximum exposure to the Big Boy but is not familiar with the route and most important of all , the highways and roads in order to keep up with this special train.

Our driver guides are retired and active railroad employees that know the route of the train and which rail line it will take. Some of the Union Pacific's mainlines now has several different routes such as climbing up Sherman Hill and only a retired or active railroader would know which line the Big Boy will be on and the speed of the train and even the stops that will be made along the way.

Also knowing how to drive on the highways and navigate through the many towns along the route is important. If you are from a country where you drive on the left hand side of the road just getting acustom to driving on the right side of the road can be challenging. Why take the chance, book with us and enjoy the maximum exposure to the Big Boy for your money. Our guides know what speed the train will be traveling and where it will stop for water and service.

Confirmed routes on the Big Boy's Western Tour include the famous high speed Overland Route where the City of Los Angeles, City of Portland and Challenger passenger trains once ran and up famous Sherman Hill in Wyoming. Also this excursion will head up the Pacific Northwest line to Pocatello, Idaho. After being on display in Pocatello the Big Boy excurson turns south to Ogden, Utah and then down to Salt Lake City before turning west onto the former Western Pacific Railroad, route of the famous original California Zephyr which was the most talked about train in the country because of the spectacular scenery and the many dome cars.

At Winnemucca, Nevada the steam special switches from former Southern Pacific trackage on the paried track to the former Western Pacific mainline for run across the Black Rock Desert, now home to the annual Burning Man Festival. The train climbs Sand Pass and enters California before starting the steep climb up the east face of the High Sierra and on to Portola in in the Feather River Canyon. After display at Portola the big 4-8-8-4 runs down the rugged Feather River Canyon and over the World Famous Keddie Wye Bridge to Oroville where it is a fast sprint down the Sacramento Valley to Roseville.

After being on display at Roseville the largest steam locomotive in the world heads eastbound and operates over famous Donner Pass in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, once the stronghold to the Southern Pacific's unique cab-forward steam locomotives. Making it's way eastbound over the former SP/WP Paried track in Nevada the special enters onto the 20 mile causeway on the Great Salt Lake in Utah on the former Southern Pacific mainline. At Ogden, Utah the Big Boy will go on display before making it's last leg up the Weber Canyon and finally back to Cheyenne.

day by day - Itinerary

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day by day - Itinerary

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