The world’s largest operating steam engine will visit northern Indiana later this year. Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 is on a coast-to-coast tour, through a partnership with Norfolk Southern.
Union Pacific spokesperson Robynn Tysver says it’s the first time the locomotive has steamed east across the Mississippi River since it was delivered in 1941. “Since it has been restored, it is one of the must-sees for railfans,” Tysver said.
The trip will include brief “whistle-stops" on June 5 in Argos and July 16 in Knox. Tysver said each whistle stop will last about 15 to 30 minutes, to give people a chance to see and hear the locomotive.
“It’s puffing out that steam. It’s blowing that very mournful whistle. Today’s trains have horns. The steam locomotive has a very distinctive whistle sound,” Tysver noted.
Larger display events are also planned, with the closest ones in Illinois and Ohio. A private event for Norfolk Southern employees is planned in Fort Wayne.
Tysver encourages visitors to be mindful of safety and stay at least 25 feet back for the track.
While the Big Boy will travel across northern Indiana, it will bypass cities like South Bend and Elkhart. Elkhart City Council member Chad Crabtree had been hoping to host an event in the city, which is home to a railroad museum and is in the middle of a year-long celebration of its railroad history. But he says the 1.2-million-pound Big Boy may be too heavy for the former New York Central route.
“Union Pacific decided because there are several overpasses/underpasses that cannot support her weight, they opted to go a more southern route that could support it,” Crabtree explained.
Tysver says Union Pacific analyzed various routes, and made its selection based on logistics, safety and security.
Crabtree notes that railroad events also have an economic impact, since they can attract thousands of visitors. “I think inside every grown adult is a little boy yearning to see a big steam locomotive and has his fascinations with trains,” he added.
Tysver said a Big Boy event in Ogden, Utah had more than 70,000 people. Locally, CPKC’s Holiday Train has become an annual tradition, even though it typically passes through the area in the middle of the night and doesn’t make any local stops.
Union Pacific says the coast-to-cost Big Boy tour with Norfolk Southern is meant to honor the nation’s 250th anniversary. It also comes as the two railroads are seeking federal approval for a planned merger.
