Big Boy steam engine, now near Colton, to visit Vegas, Salt Lake
The behemoth steam locomotive known as Big Boy that rolled out of Pomona’s Fairplex on Sunday morning will stop later this year in Las Vegas and Salt Lake City when it resumes its more than 1,200-mile journey to Cheynne, Wyo., for a huge restoration project.
The 600-ton locomotive known as No. 4014 left the RailGiants Train Museum, made a brief stop at the Covina Metrolink Station and continued as far as Bloomington, Calif., an unincorporated area just west of Colton, this weekend. It will remain there until late March or early April until a schedule is finalized for the rest of the journey, which includes stops in Nevada and Utah, Union Pacific spokesman Aaron Hunt said in an email Monday.
Union Pacific bought the locomotive from the museum and plans to restore it at its Wyoming facility so it can once again travel the country. The restoration is expected to take about five years. It was one of 25 monster engines used starting in 1941 to pull heavy freight freight over the Wasatch Mountains and other steep grades.
Until the train leaves Southern California, the public can see it from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, and Feb. 8 and 9 at the Union Pacific rail yard site at 19100 Slover Ave. in Bloomington.
Here’s the Union Pacific route map planned for No. 4014.
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