Staff Report/photos as noted
BIG – One word summarizes it all. Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 steam locomotive 4014 made its much-anticipated visit to the East Coast as part of its 2026 Coast-to-Coast tour during June and continuing into July 2026. The worlds’ largest operating steam locomotive regaled hundreds of thousands of people trackside, and most interestingly, demonstrated the how the lore (and lure) of steam railroading remains such a powerful force in the American psyche. While todays mainstream news media primarily focuses on the future, from NASA space exploration to electronic gadgets and A.I., word of the Big Boy tour spread rapidly among the population, bringing seas of humanity to small towns across the Northeast from Owego, New York, to Nicholson, Pennsylvania. And then there is Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where No. 4104 spent 18 days taking a maintenance and display break. More than 30,000 people crowded into the Park on the first full day on display – read all about that starting on page 31 in this issue.
ABOVE: Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 operated over Norfolk Southern’s former Nickel Plate Road main line from Bellevue to Conneaut, Ohio, on its way to Philadelphia to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. It is seen June 8, 2026, working its way out of the Cuyahoga River valley in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, accompanied by NS’ and UP’s 1776 diesels and a train of UP and NS passenger cars. The two tracks to the right are the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority’s rapid transit line. Several truckloads of NS and RTA workers and their families were parked between the two lines to watch the train pass by. The view is from an abandoned highway embankment. — Jerry Jordak
We’ll continue the story of Big Boy 4014’s journey to Philadelphia for display over the 4th of July weekend, and its subsequent trip west over the former PRR Middle Division to Altoona, and its epic climb over the Alleghenies via Horseshoe Curve, along with the night photography session at Steamtown during the last weekend of June, in next month’s edition of Railpace.
ABOVE: WHISTLE STOP: Owego, New York, had a temporary surge in population on Friday, June 12, 2026, when the Big Boy rolled into town. Owego was one of the “whistle stops” on the New York leg of the tour, and the town went all out to greet its special once-in-a-lifetime visitor. The fire department flew an American flag over the tracks and brought out a vintage piece of fire apparatus. The Owego Rotary Club gave out free hot dogs to visitors (You can’t beat that!). People gathered along S. Depot Street near the former Erie Railroad Depot to take part in the festivities and to see the 4014 up close. — James Benetzky
Much has been published about the Big Boy locomotives, and we’ll briefly recap the highlights here: Union Pacific’s Big Boy fleet of 25 locomotives was built in the early 1940s. Eight remain in existence, including 4012 on permanent display at Steamtown, but only Union Pacific 4014 is operational. Built in 1941 to run on coal, it was restored by U.P. beginning in 2019, and converted to run on fuel oil. A Union Pacific crew of twelve operates and maintains the 4014, according to UP lead engineer Ed Dickens. An additional cadre of 20 Union Pacific personnel accompany the locomotive on its Coast-to-Coast tour, availing themselves of the 12-car passenger consist in tow. UP also supplied UP diesel 1776 in the consist, primarily to assist with switching moves at layover locations, but Big Boy 4014 did all of the heavy lifting out on the road.
Much of the railfan universe was present trackside and at Steamtown for the Big event, which we cover on the following pages with the help of more than two dozen Railpace photo contributors.
ABOVE: BIG BOY ENTERS SCRANTON– Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 leads Norfolk Southern train 061 down the former Lackawanna Railroad (currently the NS Sunbury Line) alongside the Scranton Expressway (Pennsylvania Route 11) June 13, 2026. — Zachary Jagodzinski, Aerial View
Let’s Get On The Road
The eastern leg of the tour began May 25 from Cheyenne, Wyoming bound for Chicago. East of Chicago, No. 4014 made its first public viewing stop in Railpace reader territory at Argos, Indiana, in collaboration with Norfolk Southern, host railroad for much of the Big Boy tour east of Chicago. Pennsylvania regional railroads Reading & Northern and Delaware-Lackawanna also rolled out the red carpet for the mega-event. R&N fired up its own 4-8-4, No. 2102, operating Iron Horse Rambles on two days during 4014 travels over R&N rails, replete with side-by-side operation of 2102 with UP 4014 for two days during the weekend of June 13–14, wowing onboard riders and hordes of trackside observers.
ABOVE: The Big Boy eases across the CRR of NJ through-truss bridge at Minooka Junction after passing through Norfolk Southern’s Taylor Yard. The train is entering the former D&H Penn Division at this location. — John Olejnik
The assembled multitude of chasers and onlookers trackside during 4014’s journey across New York State and down into Pennsylvania was epic, with more than three thousand vehicles descending on the tiny hamlet of Nicholson, Pennsylvania, home to the iconic Tunkhannock Creek viaduct. More than 30 drones, several helicopters, and five aircraft filled the skies there while the special train posed 240 feet above the valley; it took more than an hour in gridlocked traffic for motorists to get out of town. And the chase was on! The Big Boy eastern tour was notable for its scheduled “whistle stop” events where No. 4014 and its colorful UP consist (including four Norfolk Southern business cars on the rear) paused for 15 minutes or so to allow the local population to safely gaze at and photograph the machine up close…
