Union Pacific's Big Boy locomotive stops in Fort Worth
FORT WORTH – Union Pacific Railroad's famed Big Boy locomotive made a stop in North Texas Thursday morning.
Big Boy No. 4014's Heartland of America Tour included a stop at Fort Worth's T&P Station in downtown.
North Texans are able to see the locomotive for themselves Thursday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Friday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Admission is free.
Big Boy made several "whistle-stops" in Texas on its tour, including Hearne, Navasota, Hempstead, Houston, Spring, Marlin and West.
Big Boy's tour began Aug. 28 in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and continued across nine additional states: Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas. The eight-week tour concludes later this month.
A total of 25 Big Boy locomotives were built for Union Pacific, the first being delivered in 1941, according to the company.
There are seven Big Boys on public display in various cities around the country, including Dallas. Six others can be found in St. Louis, Missouri; Omaha, Nebraska; Denver, Colorado; Scranton, Pennsylvania; Green Bay, Wisconsin; and Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Big Boy No. 4014 was delivered to Union Pacific in December 1941. The locomotive was retired 20 years later, having traveled 1,031,205 miles in its 20 years in service, according to Union Pacific.
Union Pacific reacquired No. 4014 from the RailGiants Museum in Pomona, California, in 2013, and relocated it back 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.