Power type Steam Build date September 1941 UIC class (2′D)D2′ h4 | Serial number 69585 Configuration 4-8-8-4 | |
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Builder American Locomotive Company | ||
Union Pacific 4014, or UP 4014, is a four-cylinder articulated 4-8-8-4 Big Boy-type steam locomotive owned by Union Pacific Railroad. 4014 was retired from service on July 21, 1959 and donated to the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society in Pomona, CA in December 1961. The locomotive reached its destination in January 1962 and was displayed in Fairplex through 2013. Thereafter, Union Pacific 4014 was moved to Union Pacific's Steam Shop in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where it is now being extensively restored back to running condition. When 4014 returns to running condition, it will displace UP 3985 as the largest, heaviest and most powerful operational steam locomotive in the world.
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History
UP 4014 was one of 25 4-8-8-4 class locomotives developed by Union Pacific and Alco to overcome issues with the preceding 4-6-6-4 Challenger class locomotives. It was determined that the goals that Union Pacific had set for its new class of locomotive could be achieved by making several changes to the existing Challenger design, including enlarging the firebox to approximately 235 by 96 inches (5.97 m × 2.44 m) (about 155 sq ft or 14.4 m2), lengthening the boiler, adding four driving wheels and reducing the size of the driving wheels from 69 to 68 in (1,753 to 1,727 mm).
The Big Boys are articulated like the Mallet locomotive design, though without compounding. They were designed for stability at 80 miles per hour (130 km/h). They were built with a wide margin of reliability and safety, as they normally operated well below that speed in freight service. Peak horsepower was reached at about 35 mph (56 km/h); optimal tractive effort, at about 10 mph (16 km/h). The locomotive without the tender was the longest engine body of any reciprocating steam locomotive in the world.
Alco delivered No. 4014 to Union Pacific in December 1941 and it was retired on December 7, 1961. 4014 traveled 1,031,205 miles (1,659,564 km) for Union Pacific during its 20 years in service.
The last revenue train hauled by a Big Boy (No. 4015) ended its run in the evening of July 21, 1959. 4014 completed its last run earlier the same day at 1:50 in the morning. Most were stored operational until 1961, and four remained in operational condition at Cheyenne, Wyoming until 1962. Their duties were assumed by diesel locomotives and gas turbine-electric locomotives (GTELs). Of the 25 built, 8 were preserved at various locations around the United States. 4014 was donated by Union Pacific to the Southern California chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society in 1961. It did not reach its destination of Pomona, however, until January 8, 1962.
Restoration
In late 2012, Union Pacific announced that it was interested in obtaining a Big Boy and restoring it to operating condition.
On July 23, 2013 Union Pacific announced that it has reacquired 4014 from The Southern California chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society in Pomona, with the goal of restoring it to service.
On November 14, 2013, UP 4014 was moved from its home at the museum, on temporary track, on to the adjacent parking lot, with plans to take it to Union Pacific's rail yard in Colton, California before its move to Cheyenne. Union Pacific personnel carried out the transfer of 4014 from its display to the cyclone fencing at the northeastern edge of the Fairplex property at several feet from the Metrolink track by attaching tethers to a front end loader, allowing the loader to pull the steam engine across the parking lot.
On the morning of January 26, 2014, UP 4014 (recently re-numbered on the U.P. active locomotive roster so as to avoid confusion with an EMD SD70M diesel locomotive presently using the number 4014; SD70M renumbered UPP 4014) was pulled out of the Los Angeles County Fairplex by the Southern Pacific liveried diesel locomotive UP 1996 (part of UP's Heritage Series of locomotives). UP 4014's destination for restoration to full operating condition was the Union Pacific Steam Shop in Cheyenne, Wyoming under the guidance of Heritage Fleet Operations director Ed Dickens. On February 2014, UP 3105 (née Missouri Pacific 6027), an EMD SD40-2C, UP insulated boxcar 453665 and bay window caboose UP 24567 (née Rock Island 17149) took No. 4014's place in the museum. On May 8, 2014, UP 4014 arrived in Cheyenne. On August 12, 2016, the UP steam crew announced work on 4014's restoration had begun. Part of the restoration includes converting the locomotive to use no. 5 oil instead of coal.
When 4014's restoration is completed, the engine will join the railroad's never-retired 4-8-4 #844 and the 4-6-6-4 Challenger #3985 in excursion service and will officially be "the world's largest operational steam locomotive," displacing the 3985. Union Pacific hopes to return the Big Boy 4014 to active excursion service between 2017 to 2019. The restoration includes a plan to convert the locomotive to oil firing. Plans for operating the locomotive include the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad in May 2019 and the 75th anniversary of Union Pacific 844 as well. The restoration officially began on August 11, 2016, after the 844 finally completed its overhaul.