Big Boy #4014 Meets UP Intermodal

Steam meets diesel in the wide open Arizona desert!

Just outside of Bowie in Southern Arizona, Big Boy #4014 passed a Union Pacific intermodal headed west which created quite a sight.

To think that the Big Boy locomotives were designed to haul 3,600-ton trains, they usually hauled around 4,200 ton freight trains!.

There were 25 Union Pacific “Big Boys” built overall beginning in 1941 for the specific purpose of handling freight up the 65 mile grade of the Wasatch Mountain Range starting inOgden,Utah and ending in Wyoming.

Union Pacific Big Boy #4014 stats:

• Operated from 1941-59
• Bearing full load weighed a total of 1,250,000 million lbs
• Only 25 ever made
• 4-8-8-4 configuration
• Top speed of 80 Mph
• Articulated with no compound of the steam
• Water Capacity – 25,000 gallons
• Cylinders- 4 outside (2 for each set of 4 driving wheels)
• Boiler pressure – 300 PSI

Let us know if you have had the opportunity to view Big Boy up close. We would love to hear about your experience!