Watch: Big Boy No. 4014, the massive steam locomotive, stops in Denver

Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 – the iconic, one-million-pound steam locomotive – made a stop in Denver Wednesday morning, and Airtracker7 was overhead.

The massive engine is on a nine-state Heartland of America tour that began at the end of August. It made its way from Kansas into Colorado on Monday, and traveled from Strasburg to Denver Tuesday for a private event. It made one last Colorado stop in Greeley Wednesday before departing for its home in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Terry Alan

Big Boy No. 4014 was delivered to Union Pacific in December of 1941, according to the railroad company. It traveled more than one million miles in 20 years before being retired in 1961. Twenty-five Big Boy engines were built in the 1940s to carry heavy freight through the Rocky Mountains.

No. 4014 was moved from a California museum to Cheyenne in 2013 and returned to service in 2019, according to Union Pacific. It’s one of seven Big Boy locomotives on display, including one at Denver’s Forney Museum.

We got up close and personal with the Big Boy No. 4005 back in 2020. See that museum tour in the video player below: