Locals get a rare glimpse of the world’s largest steam locomotive
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MONTPELIER — Many Idahoans got the opportunity to hear an iconic sound Monday – a steam whistle from the world’s largest locomotive.
The Big Boy No. 4014 has been on its Westward Bound Tour, a journey from Cheyenne, Wyoming all the way to Roseville, California and back again since July 17. The engine, the world’s largest operating steam locomotive, blew its whistle before coming to a stop in Montpelier.
“You can hear that whistle miles out,” said Senior Manager – Union Pacific Heritage Operations Ed Dickens. “It’s absolutely a fascinating machine from a whole other era — an era that built the United States.”
This engine is one of 25 Big Boys built exclusively for the Union Pacific Railroad that entered operation in the early 1940s. It traveled a total of 1,031,205 miles before its retirement in 1961.
Big Boy No. 4014 is a rare steam engine. Not only is it one of eight Big Boys left, it’s the only one in operation.
For 30 years, people were asking Union Pacific when it would restore a big boy locomotive. In 2013, the company reacquired the engine from a California museum and relocated it to Cheyenne to begin a multi-year restoration process. It returned to service in May 2019 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad’s completion.
“(Now) everyone can come enjoy the Big Boy in the year 2024 and beyond,” Dickens said.
The “visible” way it produces its power is something Dickens says is captivating for those who see it.
“You can see the pistons moving. You can see the connecting rods moving. It’s a very animated motion that’s fascinating to watch,” Dickens said.
Big Boy locomotives helped solve a pressing problem when they were first released, Dickens said. At the time, the Nazis controlled most of mainland Europe and the Japanese Empire held much of the Pacific. As the United States joined World War II, American railways were at capacity, and one of the primary concerns of war planners was how to move more tonnage by rail, while also maintaining the fluidity of the network.
“They needed a locomotive that could physically move more tonnage per train, and that would increase the capacity of the network,” Dickens explained.
In order to accomplish this, the Big Boy was developed in partnership between Union Pacific and the American Locomotive Company. Being 17 feet tall and 135 feet long, Dickens calls them “an enormous spectacle.”
While Dickens said the Big Boy was “cutting-edge” for its time, “eventually something better comes along. We’re always looking for more efficiency.” The steam locomotive was replaced by the diesel engine locomotive because they required fewer resources to run.
Dickens believes that Big Boy No. 4014 represents “the joining of a nation at a really critical period in our nation’s history, how important rail transportation was back then, and how important it is still today.”
Anna Gunn and her children, Tommy and Briley, were one family out of many in Montpelier who came out to see the massive engine park in their town.
Tommy was “super excited to see it,” according to Gunn. When the train pulled in, Briley was “jumping up and down.”
“They say it doesn’t come around very often, so I’m just grateful that we got to see it and my kids got to experience it,” Gunn said.
