Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 to Travel Across Illinois on Historic Coast-to-Coast Tour; Will Pass Through Dwight July 17
In honor of America’s 250th celebration, Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 has embarked on an historic coast-to-coast tour that will see this legendary steam locomotive – the largest operating in the world – journey through Illinois en route to the East Coast.
Big Boy will make four whistle-stops in the Land of Lincoln, with a public display date planned in West Chicago, as part of the coast-to-coast tour that honors America and the role railroads have played in helping to build this country.
Public Display Days
Illinois Whistle-stops
(It is projected that Big Boy will pass through Dwight on the morning July 17)
• July 18 – Springfield, 10:45 a.m.-11:15 a.m. CDT, Amtrak Depot at Washington Street Crossing
• July 18 – Girard, 1-1:30 p.m. CDT, Center Street Crossing
On April 10, Union Pacific’s Big Boy locomotive officially launched its 2026 coast-to-coast tour from downtown Sacramento near historic Milepost 0 – the site where Central Pacific began construction on the nation’s first transcontinental railroad in 1863. Union Pacific Railroad, which was responsible for the eastern portion of the transcontinental railroad, held its own groundbreaking ceremony about a year later in Omaha, Nebraska.
This is the first time Big Boy is touring outside Union Pacific’s western network, and traveling to Indiana, Ohio, New York and Pennsylvania, with a celebration planned on Fourth of July in Philadelphia, the birthplace of America.
Big Boy will be accompanied by several historical passenger cars from Union Pacific’s Heritage Fleet, along with two special commemorative locomotives:
• No. 1616 Abraham Lincoln locomotive, which honors Union Pacific’s founder,
• No. 1776 – America250, which features the emblem of the America250 Semiquincentennial Commission, the national nonpartisan organization established by Congress to lead the nation’s 250th anniversary.
The first transcontinental railroad line was completed in 1869 at Promontory Summit, Utah. It took 20,000 people to build over six years and revolutionized trade and travel in the U.S., reducing a once-hazardous three-month journey by horse and wagon to less than a week by rail from New York to California.
Media can find photos, a Big Boy infographic, fact sheets and more at https://www.up.com/media/media-kit/steam. In addition, a complete schedule of Big Boy’s 2026 tour, along with a map tracking its journey can be found at http://UP.com/steam-schedule.
Twenty-five Big Boy locomotives were built for Union Pacific to haul freight over the steep grade of the Wasatch Mountain Range in Utah during World War II. Eight were preserved after the locomotives were retired six decades ago, but only Big Boy No. 4014 is still in operation.
Union Pacific reminds all rail fans to keep safety top of mind and stay 25 feet back from the tracks when taking a picture or viewing this mammoth machine. That means never take a picture or video standing on the track or the ballast and never climb on the locomotive or equipment.
