UP Big Boy 4014
![black steam locomotive](https://www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TDC-Big-Boy-Bob-Johnston.jpg)
LA GRANGE, Ill. — Having a Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 steam locomotive pass through the Chicago area doesn’t happen every day (or maybe for the last seven decades).
So it is no surprise hundreds of onlookers turned out at multiple locations to watch “Big Boy” 4014 make its way over the Indiana Harbor Belt Railway from ex-Chicago and North Western rails west of downtown Chicago to former Chicago and Eastern Illinois tracks headed south [see, “UP Big Boy arrives in the Midwest,” Trains News Wire, Sept. 7, 2024].
The sweeping curve where the IHB crosses both East Avenue and 47th Street south of downtown La Grange provided a perfect place to view today’s action.
![black steam locomotive with men in cab](https://www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TDC-Big-Boy-Bob-Johnston-2.jpg)
![men taking photos of yellow dome lounge](https://www.trains.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/TDC-Big-Boy-U-P-4014-Bob-Johnston.jpg)
I was fortunate enough to catch it passing through Chicago Ridge on the southwest side of the city. Even got a wave from the hogger. It is almost overwhelming to behold.