Locals get a rare glimpse of the world’s largest steam locomotive

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Published astatine 11:26 am, July 23, 2024 | Updated astatine 11:28 am, July 23, 2024

MONTPELIER — Many Idahoans sewage nan opportunity to perceive an iconic sound Monday – a steam whistle from nan world’s largest locomotive.

The Big Boy No. 4014 has been connected its Westward Bound Tour, a travel from Cheyenne, Wyoming each nan measurement to Roseville, California and backmost again since July 17. The engine, nan world’s largest operating steam locomotive, blew its whistle earlier coming to a extremity successful Montpelier.

“You tin perceive that whistle miles out,” said Senior Manager – Union Pacific Heritage Operations Ed Dickens. “It’s perfectly a fascinating instrumentality from a full different era. An era that built nan United States.”

This motor is 1 of 25 Big Boys built exclusively for nan Union Pacific Railroad that entered cognition successful nan early 1940s. It traveled a full of 1,031,205 miles earlier its status successful 1961.

Big Boy No. 4014 is simply a uncommon steam engine. Not only is it 1 of 8 Big Boys left, it’s nan only 1 successful operation.

For 30 years, group were asking Union Pacific erstwhile it would reconstruct a large boy locomotive. In 2013, nan institution reacquired nan motor from a California depository and relocated it to Cheyenne to statesman a multi-year restoration process. It returned to work successful May 2019 to observe nan 150th day of nan transcontinental railroad’s completion.

“(Now) everyone tin travel bask nan Big Boy successful nan twelvemonth 2024 and beyond,” Dickens said.

The “visible” measurement it produces its powerfulness is thing Dickens says is captivating for those who spot it.

“You tin spot nan pistons moving. You tin spot nan connecting rods moving. It’s a very animated mobility that’s fascinating to watch,” Dickens said.

Big Boy locomotives helped lick a pressing problem erstwhile they were first released, Dickens said. At nan time, nan Nazis controlled astir of mainland Europe and nan Japanese Empire held overmuch of nan Pacific. As nan United States joined World War II, American railways were astatine capacity, and 1 of nan superior concerns of warfare planners was really to move much tonnage by rail, while besides maintaining nan fluidity of nan network.

“They needed a locomotive that could physically move much tonnage per train, and that would summation nan capacity of nan network,” Dickens explained.

In bid to execute this, nan Big Boy was developed successful business betwixt Union Pacific and nan American Locomotive Company. Being 17 feet gangly and 135 feet long, Dickens calls them “an tremendous spectacle.”

While Dickens said nan Big Boy was “cutting-edge” for its time, “eventually thing amended comes along. We’re ever looking for much efficiency.” The steam locomotive was replaced by nan diesel motor locomotive because they required less resources to run.

Dickens believes that Big Boy No. 4014 represents “the joining of a federation astatine a really captious play successful our nation’s history, really important obstruction proscription was backmost then, and really important it is still today.”

Anna Gunn and her children, Tommy and Briley, were 1 family retired of galore successful Montpelier who came retired to spot nan monolithic motor parkland successful their town.

Tommy was “super excited to spot it,” according to Gunn. When nan train pulled in, Briley was “jumping up and down.”

“They opportunity it doesn’t travel astir very often, truthful I’m conscionable grateful that we sewage to spot it and my kids sewage to acquisition it,” Gunn said.