WEST CHICAGO, Ill. — An estimated 45,000 people visited Union Pacific’s Big Boy during its three days on display in West Chicago, a Union Pacific spokeswoman told the Chicago Daily Herald.
“Many people have told us they never expected to see an operating Big Boy,” UP’s Kristen South told the newspaper. “They thank us for bringing this piece of history back to life and (to) their community.”
The 4-8-8-4 drew a huge crowd on its trip through Chicago on Friday, with thousands greeting No. 4014 and its train as it arrived in Chicago. The locomotive was displayed Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, and once again attracted large crowds as it headed west on Tuesday morning.
West Chicago officials had originally prepared for about 2,000 visitors per day to the display at the railroad’s Larry S. Provo Training Center, the newspaper said.
The locomotive continues its tour today with a scheduled 9 a.m. departure from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and will stop in Belle Plaine, Marshalltown, and Elkhart on its way to Des Moines, where it is scheduled to arrive at 3:30 p.m. It will spend Thursday on display in Des Moines.
The complete schedule for the remainder of the Big Boy’s Midwest Tour is available on UP’s website.
I was in Rochelle yesterday. There was a UP cop trying to keep people back right next to the Big Boy but I think he gave up at some point. People just kept moving closer.
Cheers to Robert Morris’s comments about the Big Boy in Rochelle. I have enjoyed the Web Cam outputs for years, from Texas and California. My big concern about the event in Rochelle was SAFETY! Folks were all over or very close to the tracks as freights went through on both the UP and BNSF tracks. A couple of police or appointed monitors could have made things a lot safer.
Joseph Klein. I “think” there were police and safety monitors chasing people off the tracks. All I could think of was these folks were endangering the public viewing and those of us that couldn’t be there in person might never to get a chance if someone got seriously injured or heaven forbid, killed in the process
I watched the Rochelle web cam and was amazed and disappointed in the people that kept walking across the tracks and actually were standing in the gauge! All I could think of was if someone got really hurt or killed that would be the end of these excursions. All I could think was “IDIOTS!”
Friends and I were part of that 45,000, visited on Sat and crowds were huge. I brought along my folding chair from Prom Point trip and glad I did. I could sit in shade while my friends waited about 2 hours in a line to see UP Experience car. When they got close, they texted me to join them, I can’t stand for a long time and that worked out well. Crowds could get up close and personal with her, not like it was at Ogden, and why we wanted to visit with her again. One of our friends knows Ed Dickens and steam crew and we did get a chance to talk to them also. It was great to see so many turn out and I know UP appreciated it as they worked hard to make it happen. I am always happy to see so many railfans as I grew up being one with parents who had worked for Frisco, so I want to see the tradition continue forever. Thanks UP for making a dream happen and see #4014 running again.
I’d like to know how many showed up in Rochelle yesterday? It was a great crowd on a beautiful day. The direction to remain back 20 feet went out the window when Big Boy came to a stop and was mobbed like a rock star. Thank you to the UP for restoring this locomotive. I sure hope to see it again.