Union Pacific Big Boy 4-8-8-4 No. 4014 on a test run in Cheyenne, Wyo., on May 2, 2019.
TRAINS: Jim Wrinn
Q: How were the Big Boys originally delivered to Union Pacific? — David Kuntz, Salt Lake City
A: The exact original routings of the Big Boys have been lost to history, but we have an idea based on the railroads used to deliver Big Boy 4-8-8-4 No. 4000 in 1941. According to Jim Wrinn’s article “Birth of a Legend” in the Big Boy Back In Steam special issue, No. 4000 was shipped dead-in-tow from the manufacturer — Alco — in Schenectady, N.Y., via the Delaware & Hudson, New York Central, and Chicago & North Western railroads to Council Bluffs, Iowa. A UP switch engine towed the locomotive across the Missouri River to Omaha, Neb., where it entered service. — Trains staff
