‘Big Boy’ chugs through the suburbs, delighting observers

With a shiny yellow-and-gray streamlined passenger train in tow, the Union Pacific “Big Boy” No. 4014 steam locomotive rolled through the western suburbs Monday morning to the delight of railroad enthusiasts and casual observers alike.

Thousands of spectators lined the tracks to photograph and view 4014's passage. It is the second time massive black-and-graphite painted “Big Boy” has visited the area — the first was in 2019, shortly after the engine's restoration to service.

Sporting a 4-8-8-4 articulated wheel arrangement and stretching to a length of more than 132 feet, the engine is one of 25 examples of the largest successful steam locomotive ever built and is the only one of the eight remaining operable. The locomotives were produced by the American Locomotive Company between 1941 and 1944 and used by the UP for heavy freight service on Sherman Hill, west of Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Monday's eastbound passage through the suburbs took place on tracks shared by the Metra UP West Line between Elburn and Elmhurst. Part of a multistate “Heartland of America Tour,” Monday's leg of the journey was from Rochelle to Villa Grove, southeast of Champaign.

The train will make its way toward Texas, then return to Cheyenne, with a scheduled completion of its tour on Oct. 23.