Pictured: UP’s Big Boy when it visited Carroll on Aug. 2, 2019.
Union Pacific’s beloved Big Boy No. 4014 steam engine is scheduled to make a whistle-stop in Carroll near the beginning of September on its “Heartland of America” tour. The enormous 132-foot, 1.2-million-pound engine operated from 1941 to 1961. Union Pacific began restoring Big Boy in 2013 and returned it to service for tours in 2019 as part of the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad’s construction. The Heartland of America Tour begins Aug. 28 in Cheyenne, Wyo. and includes a path east to Illinois before turning south to the Gulf of Mexico and returning to Wyoming via Oklahoma, Kansas, and Colorado. Big Boy’s whistle-stop at the Carroll Depot is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 4. The engine is expected to roll in from the west around 12:30 p.m. and depart toward Boone at 1 p.m. Safety during the tour is a high priority for Union Pacific, and they remind spectators to remain at least 25 feet back from railroad tracks at all times. More information on the Big Boy’s 2024 Heartland of America tour is included below.
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