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OGDEN — Hundreds of people packed Salt Lake Central Station on July 4, many standing on its narrow train platform to catch a glimpse of Big Boy No. 4014 as it huffed and puffed its way into the station.
In fact, many people lined the railroad route from Evanston, Wyoming, to Salt Lake City during Independence Day just to watch the historic steam engine roll through and hear its loud whistle.
But if you missed the show — the Big Boy's first return to the Beehive State in five years — you'll have one more opportunity over the next few days as Union Pacific's "Westward Bound Tour" comes to an end. The locomotive is slated to make its Utah encore once it departs Elko, Nevada, on Friday afternoon.
It's unclear when the steam engine will arrive in Utah, but the train will be on display during a free event at Ogden Union Station (2501 Wall Ave.) from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. The train will depart Ogden for Idaho on Monday, where it will make a brief pit stop in northern Utah along the way. It's scheduled to stop at the Forest Street Crossing from about 9 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. before heading toward Soda Springs, Idaho.
The tour ends on July 26 when the steam engine returns to its home in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Big Boy No. 4014 is one of about two dozen locomotives the New York-based American Locomotive Company produced for Union Pacific between 1941 and 1944. The 133-foot-long and 1.1-million pound locomotives — dubbed the "world's largest" steam engine — were primarily used to haul freight between Ogden and Cheyenne during the 1940s and 1950s.
No. 4014 is one of only eight of these locomotives that still exist. Union Pacific acquired it and restored it in time to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 2019, which was the last time it was in Utah before this month.
Union Pacific is also planning to launch a Midwest tour beginning in late August.
