CHUGGA CHUGGA CHOO CHOO

Street in Navasota Monday, Aug. C ^rowds lined historic Railroad 16, anticipating the arrival of Big Boy No. 4014, a Union Pacific Steam Locomotive that returned to service in 2019 to celebrate the 150th Anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad’s Completion.

The crowd included train enthusiasts young and young at heart dressed as conductors, a large group of children from a local daycare, and many people wielding cameras to capture the historic moment.

Chugga chugga choo choo – the sound of Big Boy 4014 roared in the distance. Every head turned to glimpse at the massive steam locomotive coming into view. There was a cloud of steam rolling from the top of the train and the sounds of the horn and wheels of Big Boy chugging down the track got louder, and the eyes of spectators widened as it approached and stopped for the crowd to view.

Union Pacific Lead Engineer Ed Dickens looked around at the large crowd with an abundance of children in the mix, “that was me and that was our crew,” explained Dickens. “We have been interested in railroading since we were little kids, and this is our chosen profession. A lot of us were born to do this kind of work, so we are really happy and pleased that we have the opportunity to come take the locomotive where people can appreciate it.”

Big Boy No. 4014 was delivered to Union Pacific in December 1941 and was retired in December 1961, having traveled 1,031,205 miles in its 20 years of service. Big Boy was one of 25 steam locomotives built for Union Pacific, but the steam locomotives were replaced by the early version of the more modern diesel locomotives in the 1950’s. Seventeen of the steam locomotives were scrapped and eight were saved.

Big Boy was exhibited at the Rail-Giants Museum in Pomona, California, and was reaquired by Union Pacific in 2013. “The interesting thing about Big Boy is it is the world’s largest steam locomotive and because of that many thought it was impossible for it to ever run again,” explained Dickens. “It is one thing to see a locomotive sitting in a museum where it’s painted and has a little display, but it’s cold and inanimate. Now the locomotive is fully functioning, and people can see it in action.”

The massive steam locomotive is 17-foot-tall, 135-feet long, and has 17,000 pounds of horsepower and has a water capacity of 25,000 pounds.

The West family from Cut and Shoot, made the journey to Navasota to see Big Boy. Kate West brought her son Hunter and daughters Riley and Abby for the historical moment. In 2019 the family saw Big Boy in Old Town Spring.

“It is awesome to see the history and the way things work, because that is not the way things are now,” said Kate. “I’m happy to be able to give my children that experience.”

Riley simply described the experience as “Amazing!” Abby said the experience “was really cool” and she was happy to be able to see Big Boy again. Little brother Hunter couldn’t get over the massive sound of the locomotive, “it was very loud!”

Bog Boy 4014 continues it’s 4,000-mile, 10-state trip. Find out about the journey and more about Big Boy 4014 at www.up.com/heritage/steam/ schedule/index.htm.