TOPEKA (KSNT) – A WWII-era locomotive steeped in American history is set to travel through Kansas during its big coast-to-coast tour celebrating the nation’s 250th anniversary.
A representative of Union Pacific confirmed with 27 News the historic No. 4014 steam locomotive will be traveling through the Sunflower State later this year. This is part of the previously announced coast-to-coast tour the engine is embarking on in 2026 to mark 250 years since the U.S. was formed.
The steam engine, nicknamed “Big Boy,” will be traveling across Kansas as it returns to its home in Cheyenne, Wyoming, in 2026. Union Pacific said it intends to release more information regarding specific whistle stops and public displays for the engine soon.
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Big Boy’s 2026 tour kicked off on March 29 as it departed its home base in Cheyenne for California on the first leg of its west coast journey. This western coast tour includes multiple stops in Utah, Nevada, California and Wyoming.
Union Pacific will be releasing additional details soon regarding the eastern extent of the engine’s tour, which will start on May 25, this year. Currently, display dates are anticipated for locations in Nebraska, Illinois, New York, Pennsylvania and Missouri.
Big Boy and its crew have visited parts of Kansas in recent years, stopping at Topeka’s Great Overland Station in 2021 and again in 2024 for the Heartland of America Tour. The engine typically draws in big crowds of train enthusiasts and historians in the cities and towns it visits.
Union Pacific’s No. 4014 steam engine was one of 25 Big Boy locomotives commissioned for the railroad in 1941 for service during WWII. Each of these massive engines weighed in at 1.2 million pounds and measured out at 133 feet in length.
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Union Pacific’s historic steam engine No. 4014 Big Boy visits Topeka, Kansas. (KSNT Photo)
HEMPSTEAD, TEXAS – OCTOBER 4: Union Pacifics No. 4014 Big Boy makes a stop in Hempstead, Friday, Oct. 4, 2024. Big Boy, making its third trip to the Houston area since its restoration in 2019, is the only specialty train built in the 1940s left still in operation. With a massive 4-8-8-4 wheel set, it was originally designed to haul cargo up steep mountain passes in Utah and Wyoming. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)
World’s largest operating steam locomotive, Big Boy No. 4014 (Courtesy of Burson Global)
CHICAGO, July 31, 2019 — Enthusiasts gather near the historic Big Boy No. 4014 steam locomotive in West Chicago, Illinois, the United States, on July 29, 2019. The Big Boy No. 4014 steam locomotive spent three days in West Chicago during a tour to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad. (Photo by Joel Lerner/Xinhua via Getty) (Xinhua/ via Getty Images)
The No. 4014 engine retired from active service in 1961 after traveling a total distance of over 1,000,000 miles, according to the railroad. Union Pacific reacquired the engine from a museum in 2013 and brought it back to Cheyenne for a major restoration project. It returned to service in 2019, marking the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad’s completion.
Seven other Big Boy locomotives can be seen on public display across the nation, but are not in active service. You can learn more about the No. 4014 locomotive by clicking here. You can track the No. 4014 engine’s location by clicking here.
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