UP Big Boy No. 4014, seen at Henefer, Utah, on Wednesday, completes the last lap of its epic journey from Cheyenne, Wyo., to Ogden, Utah, in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the completion of the first transcontinental railroad and the driving of the Golden Spike.
Jim Wrinn
OGDEN, Utah – Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 returned to the Beehive State on Wednesday under steam for the first time in more than 60 years. The locomotive and running mate 4-8-4 No. 844 descended the famed Wasatch Grade and arrived at the western end of Big Boy operating territory in one of the West’s great railroad towns: Ogden.
The two steam locomotives made the journey on a cloudy, rainy day that failed to dampen the spirits of thousands of locals and railroad enthusiasts from across the nation and around the world who created a traffic back up in Echo and Weber canyons on Interstates 80 and 84 that was estimated to be some 12 miles long.
The locomotives are visiting Ogden for the next three days. Tomorrow, they will re-enact the Golden Spike Ceremony, posing nose to nose at Ogden Union Station at 10:30 a.m. No 844 was turned to face east Wednesday afternoon. They will remaining on display through Saturday at 3 p.m. The two doublehead from Ogden to Evanston, Wyo., on Sunday at 8 a.m.
Thousands of railroad enthusiasts have poured into Ogden and nearby Salt Lake City for the annual conventions of the National Railway Historical Society, Railway & Locomotive Historical Society, Southern Pacific Historical & Technical Society, Union Pacific Historical Society.
