Built in November 1941 by American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in Schenectady, New York, it was assigned to haul heavy freight trains in the Wasatch mountain range.
In 2013, UP re-acquired the locomotive and launched a restoration project at its Steam Shop in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
The Big Boy class was developed by Union Pacific and built by American Locomotive Company (ALCO) in the 1940s to handle the 1.14% eastbound ruling grade of Utah's Wasatch Range.
[5] A team led by UP's chief mechanical officer Otto Jabelmann adapted the design of the 4-6-6-4 Challenger, enlarging the firebox to about 235 by 96 inches (5.97 m × 2.44 m) (about 155 sq ft or 14.4 m2), lengthening the boiler, adding four driving wheels, and reducing the diameter of the driving wheels from 69 to 68 in (1,753 to 1,727 mm).
[7] It was designed for stability at 80 miles per hour (130 km/h), allowing for a wide margin of reliability and safety, as steam locomotives normally operated well below that speed in freight service.
4014 in November 1941 at a cost of $265,174 ($5,493,000 in 2023[10]) and delivered it the following month to Union Pacific, which placed it in revenue service.
4014 pulled 65 freight cars between Ogden, Utah, and Evanston, Wyoming, generating a maximum of 5,530 hp (4,120 kW).
[8][14] "No other railroad has retained its historical equipment or honored its American roots like Union Pacific.
Our steam locomotive program is a source of great pride to UP employees past and present.
In late 2012, Union Pacific officials announced that they intended to obtain a Big Boy locomotive for restoration to operational condition for excursion service.
[15] On July 23, 2013, UP announced that the Southern California Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society (R&LHS) had agreed to return No.
4014 was pulled from the Los Angeles County Fairplex to the Covina station on Metrolink trackage by No.
[21][22] It presently arrived at UP's West Colton Yard in Bloomington, California,[23] where it sat on display until April 28, when it began its journey to Cheyenne.
4005, which ran on oil from 1946 until it was converted back to coal in 1948 due to uneven heating in its large, single-burner firebox.
4014 made its first excursion run amid the celebrations marking 150 years since the completion of the first transcontinental railroad.
[54][55] From July 8 to August 8, it visited the Midwestern United States,[54] including brief stops at Saint Paul Union Depot and the Lake Superior Railroad Museum;[56][57] it then toured the Southwestern United States from September 27 to November 26.
4014 doing tour stops in Fort Worth and Houston, Texas; New Orleans, Louisiana; North Little Rock, Arkansas; St. Louis, Missouri; and Denver, Colorado.
[59] In May 2022, the Railroading Heritage of Midwest America (RRHMA) in Silvis, Illinois, announced plans to convert No.
4014 was fired up to move Union Pacific 5511 from the Cheyenne roundhouse and around the yard for testing before the 2-10-2 locomotive left for the RRHMA two months later.
[71] Two cab rides on the July 3 journey from Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, to Cheyenne were sold for $9,500 apiece to benefit the Union Pacific Railroad Museum.
[74] The second tour began on August 28 and concluded on October 23; it included stops in Texas, Arkansas, Kansas, and Illinois.
[74] On the second tour's journey through Iowa in September, American comedian and former The Tonight Show host Jay Leno hitched a ride on No.
[76] In December 2018, Union Pacific asked the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to exempt UP Nos.
4014 and 844 from federal positive train control (PTC) requirements;[77] three months later, the FRA officials responded that such waivers were not needed.
[80][81] In May 2024, PTC equipment was installed in a cabinet in the tender, and a third dynamo added to the locomotive to provide electrical power, allowing No.