Our program takes a look back, as Union Pacific’s quest for ever bigger locomotives led to the 9000 class 4-12-2s, then the Challengers, and finally the Big Boys.  Vintage film shows all three types in action.

  With the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Union Pacific approaching, the railroad decided to add a Big Boy to its steam program.  We look at the steam program prior to the Big Boy, before meeting up with #4014 at North Little Rock, Arkansas, in November, 2019.

  On November 15th, 2019, we follow #4014 across Arkansas as the locomotive and train travel from North Little Rock to Van Buren.  Highlights on this line include Conway Tunnel, crossing lake inlets near Mill Creek and running along the Arkansas River at Ozark.

  Plans to run the Big Boy were shelved in 2020, and #4014 next ran in August, 2021, on a journey to Texas, and Louisiana.  On the return to Cheyenne, the train again passed through North Little Rock before heading north to St. Louis and west to Kansas City.

  We filmed #4014 in action over the course of four days, picking up the action as the train ran between North Little Rock and Poplar Bluff, Missouri.  The next three days of operations took the train to St. Louis, Jefferson City, and Kansas City.  We wrapped our shoot at Sedalia on the run to Kansas City.

  It’s action on the mainline with the largest steam locomotive in the world!