As we speak, Union Pacific #4014--the only operating Big Boy--is traveling over Norfolk Southern's former Nickel Plate Road main line, headed eastbound. The NKP was very well-known for its fleet of fast Berkshires and Hudsons, but the Big Boy will be the most-watched of the steamers to hit the carrier's rails.
After traversing the NKP to Buffalo, NY the engine will follow the Erie Lackawanna Railroad's former Erie (Buffalo and Southern Tier Subdivisions) to Binghamton before operating over the x-DL&W Scranton Division main line to Steamtown and a rendezvous with sister #4012 that has been part of the Steamtown collection since the museum's sojourn in Vermont under founder F. Nelson Blount.
Track the Big Boy's progress by visiting Union Pacific's official tracker here: Steam Locomotive Tracking | Union Pacific.
Photo Captions:
Above: UP #4014 during its 2019 tour across the Union Pacific system at the Larry S. Provo Training Center in West Chicago, IL.
Below: Engineer Ed Dickens climbs up the pilot of UP #4014 during a stop in North Platte, NE--near Bailey Yard--to pose for a photo with two young railfans. 4014 was in North Platte as part of its 2021 systemwide tour. Both Photos, Phil Bell
