Prototype News

Tens of thousands of people lined Norfolk Southern rails over the weekend as Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 “Big Boy” No. 4014 crossed Indiana and Ohio as part of its historic tour of the Eastern United States.

The eastern leg of the cross-country tour — meant to celebrate the country’s 250th anniversary and promote UP’s proposed acquisition of NS — departed Cheyenne, Wyo., on May 25 and arrived on NS rails near Chicago on Friday, June 5. The locomotive overnighted in Fort Wayne, Ind., before continuing to Bellevue, Ohio, on Saturday. After a day-long stay there, the engine is expected to run from there to Conneaut on Monday.

While crowds have been excited to see the locomotive, the event hasn’t been without incident. There have been reports of people getting too close to the tracks and poorly flown drones being struck by the passing locomotive. UP encourages people to stay 25 feet back from the tracks at all times.

One of the highlights of the tour will be this coming weekend, when the locomotive will lead an excursion on the Reading & Northern on June 14. After that, the engine will visit Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, where it will be reunited with Big Boy No. 4012. National Park Service officials anticipate more than 58,000 people coming to the park to see the locomotive. The engine is expected to be in Philadelphia on July 4, before heading back west. The full schedule can be viewed online.

The trip marks the first time a UP Big Boy has operated east of Chicago.

—Justin Franz 

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