Union Pacific's 'Big Boy' Steam Engine Rolling Into Colorado For Labor Day Weekend

UPDATE: Union Pacific's Big Boy Locomotive Chugs Across Colorado On Journey To Wyoming

(CBS4) - Union Pacific's "Big Boy No. 4014" Locomotive is rolling into Colorado for the Labor Day Weekend. It's the world's largest, restored steam engine and was last in the state in November 2019.

The Union Pacific took delivery of its first Big Boys in 1941. It eventually had 25. They are 132 feet long and weight 1.2 million pounds.

They are so big, the engines are hinged so they get through curves. They normally operated between Ogden, Utah and Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Union Pacific's Big Boy No. 4014 (credit: Larry Strain)

Union Pacific took delivery of Big Boy No. 4014 in December 1941. It was retired in 1961 after traveling 1,031,205 miles in 20 years. Union Pacific got it back for a museum in California in 2013, taking it back to Cheyenne where it restored the locomotive.

It returned to service in 2019 to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad's Completion.

Its first stop is in Kit Carson Sunday at 10 a.m. where it will be at the Young Street Crossing. From there it has stops in Hugo at 12:15 p.m, Deer Trail at 2:45 p.m. and Strasburg at 4 p.m. before heading into Denver at 7 p.m.

The "Big Boy" will spend Sunday night at 39th & Wynkoop so it can be on display from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m. on Labor Day. It pulls out of Denver on Tuesday at 8 a.m. heading to La Salle for a quick stop at 10:40 a.m. It's final stop in Colorado will in Greeley at 11:25 a.m. Tuesday then it's on to Wyoming.

You can follow its trip on the Steam Locomotive Tracking Map.

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