UP's 'Big Boy' Steam Locomotive Touring Nebraska This Weekend
By Aaron Bonderson 
, Report for America Reporter/Producer Nebraska Public Media
Aug. 6, 2021, 2:07 p.m. ·
A famous steam locomotive has started making its way through parts of Nebraska. The western Nebraska town of Sidney was the final stop on Thursday for the Union Pacific No. 4014 ‘Big Boy’ steam tour.
The steam engine arrives in North Platte Friday and will be on display in the town all day Saturday. The 'Big Boy' will make many short stops in Nebraska throughout the weekend, before its final destination in the state on Sunday in Fairbury.
Mike Jaixen with Union Pacific Railroad said the engine was developed to pull large quantities of freight through Utah’s Wasatch Mountains during World War II.
“It’s 132-feet long and it’s the largest operating steam locomotive in the world, more powerful than anything else at that time,” Jaixen said.
No. 4014 model was acquired by Union Pacific in 2013 after its time in a museum. In 2019, the restored locomotive appeared in Nebraska for the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad.
The tour began in Cheyenne, Wyoming and will go as far southeast as New Orleans. It will stop more than 20 times before returning to Cheyenne.