Union Pacific 4014


Union Pacific 4014, also known as the "Big Boy", is a steam locomotive owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. It is a four-cylinder simple articulated 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" type built in 1941 by the American Locomotive Company of Schenectady, New York. No. 4014 is the only operating Big Boy of the eight that remain in existence.
The locomotive operated in revenue service until 1959. It was donated to the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society in late 1961 and thereafter displayed in Fairplex at the RailGiants Train Museum in Pomona, California. In 2013, Union Pacific re-acquired the locomotive and launched a restoration project at their Steam Shop in Cheyenne, Wyoming. In 2019, No. 4014 was operated for the first time after sitting dormant for almost six decades. Part of Union Pacific's heritage fleet, it now operates in excursion service, in addition to hauling revenue freight during ferry moves.

Design

The Big Boy class was developed by Union Pacific and the American Locomotive Company to handle the grades of the Wasatch Range. UP determined that its goals for the new class could be achieved by making several changes to the existing 4-6-6-4 "Challenger" design by enlarging the firebox to about , lengthening the boiler, adding four driving wheels, and reducing the diameter of the driving wheels from.
The Big Boy was articulated like the Mallet locomotive design, although without compounding. It was designed for stability at, allowing for a wide margin of reliability and safety, as steam locomotives normally operated well below that speed in freight service. Peak horsepower was reached around ; optimal tractive effort was reached around. It is longer than two city buses and weighs more than a Boeing 747.

History

Revenue service and retirement (1941-1959)

ALCO built No. 4014 in November 1941 and delivered it the following month to Union Pacific, which placed it in revenue service. No. 4014 was part of the first group of 20 Big Boys, classified as 4884-1. Designed to haul trains over Utah's Wasatch Range, No. 4014 and the 24 other Big Boys routinely pulled trains of up to. No. 4014's last routine repairs took place in 1956.
No. 4014 completed its final revenue run on July 21, 1959, just hours before the last revenue run by any Big Boy. It had traveled during its twenty years of revenue service. Union Pacific retired No. 4014 on December 7, 1961. All of the Big Boys were retired by 1962, their duties assumed by diesel locomotives and gas turbine-electric locomotives. That same year, Union Pacific donated No. 4014 to the Southern California chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society in Pomona, California, where it became one of the eight Big Boys preserved around the United States.

Ownership transfer (2012-2014)

In late 2012, Union Pacific officials announced that they would obtain a Big Boy locomotive, restore it to operating condition, and use it in excursion service.
On July 23, 2013, the Southern California chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society agreed to transfer No. 4014 back to Union Pacific.
On November 14, 2013, No. 4014 began its journey to the UP Steam Shop in Cheyenne. It was pulled from its display site at the museum, on temporary track, to the adjacent parking lot. On January 26, 2014, No. 4014 was pulled from the Los Angeles County Fairplex to the Covina station on Metrolink trackage by No. 1996, an SD70ACe diesel locomotive painted in Southern Pacific colors. It presently arrived at UP's West Colton Yard in Bloomington, California, where it sat on display until April 28, when it began its journey to Cheyenne. After arriving at the Steam Shop's roundhouse on May 8, No. 4014 sat largely idle for two years while the UP steam crew worked to overhaul No. 844. The Steam Shop also used the time to expand and upgrade its facilities to accommodate a Big Boy.

Restoration (2016-2019)

In August 2016, UP officials announced that restoration work on No. 4014 had begun under Heritage Fleet Operations director Ed Dickens. By early 2017, the locomotive had been completely disassembled. Some new parts were fabricated, including the rod brasses, top boiler check valve, and lubricator check valves. The driving wheels were sent to be repaired by the Strasburg Rail Road in Strasburg, Pennsylvania.
The work included one major alteration: converting the coal-burning locomotive to run on No. 5 fuel oil. This was done by replacing the firebox grates with a fire pan and an oil burner. This made No. 4014 the first Big Boy to undergo a coal-to-oil conversion since No. 4005, which ran on oil from 1946 until it was converted back to coal in 1948 due to uneven heating in its large, single-burner firebox. No. 4014's old firebox grates were saved and sent for the restoration of Milwaukee Road No. 261.
In March 2018, it was reported that the process of putting the locomotive back together had begun; ten months later, the locomotive's restoration was nearly finished.
In December 2018, Union Pacific asked the Federal Railroad Administration to exempt UP Nos. 4014, 844 and 3985 from federal Positive Train Control requirements; in February 2019, the FRA officials responded that such waivers were not needed.
On February 6, 2019, No. 4014's boiler passed a hydrostatic test. The locomotive was successfully test fired on April 9. Around 9 p.m. on May 1, it moved under its own power for the first time in more than 59 years. The following evening, the locomotive made its first test run from Cheyenne to Nunn, Colorado.

Excursion service (2019-present)

Upon the completion of the restoration, No. 4014 joined the railroad's No. 844 in excursion service. No. 4014 also became the world's largest operational steam locomotive, displacing No. 3985.
In May 2019, No. 4014 made its first excursion run amid the celebrations marking 150 years since the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad. Following its May 4 christening at the Cheyenne Depot Museum, the locomotive — along with No. 844 — traveled to Ogden, Utah. No. 4014 subsequently made two additional tours on its own, with the first tour taking it through the Midwestern United States from July 8 to August 8, 2019 and the second tour taking it through the Southwestern United States from September 27 to November 26.

Incidents