Today I took a drive to Greely, Colorado to see the biggest operational steam locomotive in the world. The Union Pacific 4014, aka "Big Boy", was on a short trip from Cheyenne to Denver and made a single "whistle stop" in Greely. The Big Boy is a remarkable locomotive. It was on static display for decades before being pulled to the Union Pacific shop in Cheyenne and returned to running condition in 2019. It's hard to overstate just how huge this thing is. As you can see from the photos and video below, this massive locomotive draws crowds wherever it goes. It was fun to see!
A few things to note as you look through the media:
- There were Starlink antennae on a few of the passenger cars
- A couple engineers wrote "Big Boy" using chalk on the front of the 4014, surely to reference the origin story of the name "Big Boy"
- The Big Boy always travels with a diesel locomotive companion in case of malfunction so that the train will not be stranded on an operational freight line
- The police seen in a few shots are railroad police, not local police
- As far as I could tell, only a few of the passenger cars being pulled had anyone in it, most cars had their window shades drawn closed
- The video does not translate just how loud the engine is, you have to be near it to experience it
