Big Boy No. 4014 was delivered to Union Pacific in December 1941. The locomotive was retired in December 1961, having traveled 1,031,205 miles in its 20 years in service. Union Pacific reacquired No. 4014 from the RailGiants Museum in Pomona, California, in 2013, and relocated it back to Cheyenne to begin a multi-year restoration process. In 2019 UP #4014 was brought back to life. It had been almost 60 years and multiple generations since the last time a 4-8-8-4 Big Boy operated under it’s own power.

SURVIVING 4-8-8-4 BIG BOY PRESERVATION INFO:

4004: Holliday Park
4005: Forney Transportation Museum
4006: Museum of Transportation
4012: Steamtown National Historic Site
4017: National Railroad Museum
4018: Museum of the American Railroad
4023: Kenefick Park

Twenty-five Big Boys were built exclusively for Union Pacific Railroad, the first of which was delivered in 1941. The locomotives were 132 feet long and weighed 1.2 million pounds. Because of their great length, the frames of the Big Boys were “hinged,” or articulated, to allow them to negotiate curves. They had a 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement, which meant they had four wheels on the leading set of “pilot” wheels which guided the engine, eight drivers, another set of eight drivers, and four wheels following which supported the rear of the locomotive. The massive engines normally operated between Ogden, Utah, and Cheyenne, Wyo.

There are seven Big Boys on public display in various cities around the country. They can be found in St. Louis, Missouri; Dallas, Texas; Omaha, Nebraska; Denver, Colorado; Scranton, Pennsylvania; Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Source Union Pacific Railroad

Big Boy No. 4014 departed on the “Heartland of America Tour” on Wednesday, August 28, 2024 from Cheyenne, Wyoming, traveling across nine additional states: Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas. The eight-week tour concludes in late October 2024.

Union Pacific modified a total of five CA-11 cabooses to serve as ‘Snowbuses’. Two of these had their porches fully enclosed for this assignment. These cars were equipped with MU and signal hoses as they were positioned in the middle of back to back locomotives which amounted to the entire train. The Snowbus would ferry crews to locations otherwise unreachable in the worst weather. Recently, 25809 was included in 2023’s Big Boy #4014 excursion train.

This special set includes UP 4014 and snowbus caboose 25809 (part of the Big Boy’s 2024 excursion train). Special box art will be featured with a Texas motif, which is unique to this one-time-only release.

Additionally, the 4014 will feature details and decoration to better match its current appearance, such as polished cylinder heads, rear tender markings, and various commemorative plaques on the loco and tender.

BIG BOY FEATURES:

• 2024 style new “Big Boy” font printed on smokebox door.
• Current tender markings.
• Additional “plaques” applied to boiler and tender.
• “Polished” cylinder heads.
• “Polished” paint finish
• PTC Equipment

SNOWBUS FEATURES:

• Unique body style with enclosed end porches.
• Features insulated,-non-opening windows.
• MU pedestal and rubber signal hoses unique to these cars.
• Additional center-mounted porch light.
• Original straight steps.

The Union Pacific’s Overland Route, the eastern portion of the Transcontinental Railroad, was built west of Omaha, across Nebraska and Wyoming, and on into Utah. The steepest grade was the eastbound climb on the Echo Canyon line through the Wahsatch Mountains just east of Ogden, Utah. Forty 4-6-6-4 Challenger locomotives were acquired in 1936 and 1937 to move fast freight over the grades in Utah and Wyoming. They were rated at 4,290 tons across Wyoming, but were limited to 3,100 tons eastbound through Echo Canyon.

Union Pacific wanted something that could make the same speeds as the Challengers but could carry the entire 4,290-ton train over the Wahsatch Mountains without a helper. The easiest solution was to scale up the successful Challenger design by adding another pair of drivers to each half of the locomotive, thus making a 4-8-8-4.

In 1941, UP placed an order for twenty 4-8-8-4’s, numbered 4000 through 4019, with the American Locomotive Works. Each engine cost $265,174. According to legend, an unidentified machinist at the ALCO plant is responsible for the name “Big Boy”, having scrawled the name in chalk on a partially completed locomotive.

The Big Boys were exactly what the railroad wanted. They were coal burners wiht 68-inch drivers, 135,375 pounds of tractive effort and 6,000 horsepower. They started service on the line from Ogden to Green River, Wyoming and their operating range soon increased to cover the lne all the way to Cheyenne.

Traffic during WWII resulted in five more Big Boys, numbered 4020 through 2024. being built in 1944. These versions were slightly heavier than the original order due to wartime materials restrictions. Despite the influx of diesel locomotives following WWII, the Big Boys and Challengers remained the prime power on the Overland Route. They aslo say service as helpers, leading gas turbines and diesels over Sherman Hill. They remained active through the 1950s and weren’t retired unti the early 1960s. By then, the first twenty units had been run well over one million miles.

4-8-8-4 LOCOMOTIVE FEATURES:

• Boiler backhead with full details and printed gauges
• Individually applied piping, valves, generators, etc.
• Operating eccentric cranks on both sides operationg in correct direction
• Headlights and indicator number boxes (number boards) with directional
  light change.
• See-through running boards
• See-through cab windows
• 5-pole skew wound motor, precision machined flywheels, and multi-link
  drivetrain
• Body-mounted McHenry® operating scale knuckle couplers
• Fully-assembled and ready-to-run
• Heavy die-cast frame for greater traction and more pulling power
• Scaled from prototype resources including drawings,
  field measurements, photographs, and more
• Accurately-painted and –printed paint schemes
• Bidirectional constant LED lighting so headlight brightness remains
  constant
• Minimum radius: 11”

SOUND EQUPPED MODELS ALSO FEATURE:

• Onboard DCC decoder with SoundTraxx Tsunami2 sound
  
• Sound units operate in both DC and DCC
• Full DCC functions available when operated in DCC mode
  
• Chuff, whistle, and bell sounds work in DC
  
• All functions NMRA compatible in DCC mode
  
• Precision slow speed control
• Program a multiple unit (MU) lashup with lead unit only horn, bell, and lights
  
• Many functions can be altered via Configuration Value (CV) changes
  
• CV chart included in the box

CA-11 CABOOSE FEATURES:

• Better than brass detail™ including roadname and road number
  specific detail and laser-sharp painting and printing.
• Detailed interior including conductor’s desk, stove, sink, bath-
  room, radio stand, and more.
• See-through end platforms and steps.
• Etched metal window screens on door and some side windows.
• Wire-form grab irons.
• Axle generator details.
• Body-mounted McHenry ® scale knuckle-spring couplers.
• Multiple road numbers.
• Separate wireform grab irons, etched metal coupler platforms.
• Coupler lift bars, trainline hoses, brake hoses, and hardware.
• Full underframe detail: air brake reservoir, control valve, and
  brake cylinder with plumbing and brake rod details.
• Machined metal wheels with RP25 contours operate on all popular
  brands of track.
• Weighted for trouble-free operation.
• Fully-assembled and ready-to-run out of the box.
• Accurately painted and printed for prototypical realism.
• Highly-detailed, injection-molded body.
• Durable jewel case packaging.
• Minimum radius: 9 ¾”” radius.
  

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