Chasing a Mighty Relic of Yesteryear: Union Pacific 4014

Mike Letterman

May 2, 2022, 5:32 PM
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I was listening to the sound of a steam locomotive while standing beside the railroad tracks. I couldn't register anything out of the ordinary because the cicadas were nearby. I closed my eyes to hear more.

The sound of a railroad crossing bell broke the silence. The mechanical arm descended to block the road a few steps away from me. It wouldn't be long now.

The Big Boy storms through Belvue, Kan., about 64 miles from its next whistle stop in Abilene, Kansas.

There was a metallic whine coming from the tracks to my right. The sound of the railhead grew louder. The flickering headlights of a vintage steam locomotive appeared on the horizon as I looked down the line.

As it rounded a distant curve, the passenger cars behind it came into view, distorted by the heat waves that hung low over the roadbed. The sound of the locomotive's whistle rang through the air, and steam exploded from the machine's cast iron valves. The steel colossus barrel was at track speed as I stepped back from the tracks.

The engine's massive driving rods chugged back and forth, propelling the old beast down the tracks. The locomotive's tender followed immediately behind, its large white Union Pacific lettering passing in a blur. The Union Pacific 4014, the largest operating steam locomotive in the world, and its string of streamlined passenger cars disappeared around a bend.

Ed Dickens, the manager of heritage operations for Union Pacific, sits in the engineer’s seat aboard 4014. Mr. Dickens has a cult following of his own and is often encircled by young fans at whistle stops.

The Big Boys were 25 steam locomotives manufactured by the American Locomotive Company between 1941 and 1944. The locomotives are referred to as the wheel arrangement, which consists of a four-wheel leading truck, two sets of eight driving wheels and a four-wheel trailing truck. The giant is a living testament to the mechanical genius of its era.

Unlike passenger locomotives belonging to competing railroads, Union Pacific's steam engines would forgo streamlining, instead roaming the rails with their jumble of gears, steam hoses and boiler rivets exposed to the public eye. The Big Boy broadcasts an aesthetic of efficiency, toughness and sheer brutality.

Onlookers gather trackside in Midlothian, Texas.

A couple embraces during Big Boy’s whistle stop in Fort Worth.

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The tour would go through 10 states in the Midwest and the South. Major publicity stops were planned in St. Louis, Fort Worth, New Orleans and Denver. The Big Boy would stop in small towns along the way.

I joined the crowd of rail enthusiasts following Union Pacific 4014 to Fort Worth in August 2021. The Big Boy was on display for thousands of spectators to see. Youngsters tugged at their parents' arms in excitement. A steady parade of modern diesel locomotives passed by on adjacent tracks, their engineers and conductors leaning out the windows of their own cabs to get a better look at the mighty relic of yesteryear.

Union Pacific 4014 departs Union Station in Kansas City, Mo., at sunrise.

A small group of die-hard rail fans watched Union Pacific 4014 leave for points south early the next morning. Clouds of steam escaped from each side of the locomotive as a black smoke billowed into the morning air. With Big Boy starting to gain speed, a deep, mournful blast escaped from its whistle, bidding Cowtown farewell. The crowd of spectators dispersed as it passed.

In the next eight hours, I joined a convoy of fellow train enthusiasts in an attempt to see the steam engine pass by as many times as possible. After a few minutes at each whistle stop, Big Boy left the line to its next destination. As the last passenger car rolled by, scores of onlookers swarmed the tracks. They scanned the railroad ties to find the pennies, nickels and dimes that they placed on the tracks to be flattened by the steam locomotive.

Young children cover their ears in response to Big Boy’s steam whistle during a stop in Midloathian, Texas.

Union Pacific 4014’s nickname, Big Boy, first appeared after a factory worker at the American Locomotive Company scrawled the moniker on the nose of the locomotive as it left the factory in Schenectady, New York. The crew touches up the writing every day or so.

Many Americans don't like seeing a train. Sometimes freight trains derail in a terrifying way, and their loud horns can be heard at all hours of the night. The fact that many of our consumer goods are moved by rail at some point, or that vital raw materials are commonly transported on our nation, is not something that should be taken lightly.

Even to nonenthusiasts, there is something fascinating about seeing this particular locomotive. Union Pacific 4014 reminds us of a time when our communities were more connected. During the golden era of railroading, practically every major city and town in the United States was linked by passenger railroad. In those days a town's train station might have acted as the social hub of the community, as it was where the day's mail arrived, where telegraph operators sent and received messages from around the world, and where loved ones shared teary goodbyes and joyful hugs.

Bystanders crowd the right-of-way while taking photos of Union Pacific 4014’s whistle stop in Ennis, Texas.

The sense of awe one feels at our collective ability to harness simple elements like water, fire and carbon with such ruthless and graceful efficiency is what makes the Big Boy's draw more closely tied to. Maybe beholding steam locomotives like Union Pacific 4014 reminds us of childhood, long since dulled by the seemingly endless demands of grown-up life.

The Union Pacific dome coach, Challenger, in Hearne, Texas. Originally built by the Pullman-Standard Co. in 1958, it was one of the last dome cars produced in the United States and can seat 24 in the upper dome.

Machines that move rhythmically and breathe steam seem to come naturally to these machines that will likely outlive most of the people who designed, constructed, maintained, operated and marveled over them.

Plumes of smoke and steam emanate from Union Pacific 4014 as it departs Fort Worth, Texas, for points south.

A large crowd had gathered to watch the impressive train pull into town at the former Southern Pacific rail yard, 25 miles north of College Station. Motorists craned their necks for a view of the locomotive as traffic on neighboring roads slowed to a crawl.

Big Boy let out a cloud of steam as it slowed to a stop. A group of people climbed up the embankment of the overpass to take pictures. A police officer showed up on the scene. He yelled for the crowd to leave because he was annoyed by the traffic jam.

The die-hard train enthusiasts had no plans to comply. The gentleman turned to the officer and said that the crowd was not blocking traffic or doing anything illegal. The group nodded their heads and echoed the same message. The officer gave up and walked back to his car because he knew the group of spectators wouldn't leave. A cheer went up from the crowd before they focused on the star of the show.