Historic locomotive to make stop in Nokomis

NOKOMIS — The Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 will be traveling through Nokomis on Tuesday, September 10, with arrival scheduled for 12:15 p.m. before departing at 12:45.

The Union Pacific 4014 is a steam locomotive owned and operated by Union Pacific as part of its heritage fleet. It is a four-cylinder simple articulated 4-8-8-4 big boy model built in 1941 by the American Locomotive Company at the Schenectady Locomotive Works in New York.

The locomotive was retired from revenue service in 1959 and was donated to the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society. It was then displayed in Fairplex at the RailGiants Train Museum in Pomona, CA.

The locomotive was acquired in 2013 by Union Pacific as they launched a restoration project at their steam shop in Cheyenne, WY. In May 2019, the 1.2 million-pound marvel moved under its own power after sitting dormant for almost sixty years, becoming the world’s largest operational steam locomotive and the only operating big boy locomotive out of the eight that exist.\

“This monster was built before my dad went to Europe in World War II, and retired before I was even born,” said Joe Gasparich of Nokomis. “I’m not certain, but these behemoths weren’t flatlanders; they ran in the mountains.”

“This is likely the first time this large of a steam locomotive has gone through Nokomis, let alone stop here,” Gasparich said. “The term ‘once in a lifetime’ can be overused, but this is truly one of those times.”

The train will also pass through Schram City on its route to St. Louis.

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