Ed Dickens and Steam Team reflect on their Big Boy locomotive tours

CHEYENNE - Union Pacific Railroad ended its eight-week Big Boy No. 4014 "Heartland of America" tour a little more than a month ago, and Ed Dickens and the Steam Team are looking full speed ahead to their future tours, while reflecting on what makes the Big Boy and Union Pacific staples among train buffs.

The schedule was announced in early August, and the tour kicked off in Cheyenne on Aug. 28, passing through three dozen communities and 10 states.

As part of the tour, the Union Pacific Railroad Museum auctioned off four cab rides on the Big Boy, with proceeds going to the Union Pacific Museum Association and Union Pacific's Friend-to-Friend Network.

This nonprofit benefits railroad families in times of need, such as medical or natural disaster hardships.

Earlier in the summer, Big Boy No. 4014 toured five states during its 2024 Westward Bound Tour from Wyoming to California. In addition, this mighty steam locomotive was on public display for two days each in Roseville, California, and Ogden, Utah.

During the tour, the Union Pacific Museum hosted a special, sold-out passenger trip from Roseville to Sparks, Nevada. The unique experience was the annual gala fundraiser for the nonprofit organization, which provided a rare opportunity to travel on this historic heritage equipment.

Overall, Big Boy No. 4014 visited 14 of the 23 states Union Pacific serves in 2024.

"Last fall, we had anticipated including Boise, Idaho, and Portland, Oregon on the Westward Bound tour," Union Pacific said on its website. "As planning continued, we determined that the network capacity on our northern corridor could not accommodate Big Boy No. 4014 along with anticipated demand on a single track. We aim to share the Big Boy with as many rail fans as possible across our network, and we look forward to seeing everyone trackside - 25 feet back."

Over the course of both tours, Big Boy spent 84 days traveling, visited 14 states, made 60 whistle-stops along the way and had eight public display days in five cities and 19 family days.

"We estimated more than 500,000 people came out to see the Big Boy throughout both tours. ... When we would roll up to towns of 2,000-3,000 people, we'd still see thousands of people waiting for us who've been waiting for hours," said Robynn Tysver, the communications manager for UP in Cheyenne. "On this trip, we saw cities take advantage of that and have food trucks and bands by the stations. ... It's a festive atmosphere waiting for the train."

Big Boy and Union Pacific history

Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 7,175 locomotives (as of December 2023) over 32,200 mile routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second-largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, which shares a duopoly with UP on transcontinental freight rail lines in the Western, Midwestern and West South Central United States.

Twenty-five Big Boys were built during World War II, but only eight survived.

Now, No. 4014 is the only one of the eight still in operation and remains the world's largest operating steam locomotive.

Wyoming specifically is special to the Union Pacific system.

Big Boy No. 4014 calls Cheyenne home, along with Union Pacific's Steam Shop and the other historic locomotive, UP No. 844. Union Pacific also has nearly 800 employees in Wyoming.

The machine is of a different era. It's 600 tons, 135 feet long, 17 feet tall and weighs as much as three conventional locomotives. The mechanism, wheels, rods and the whistle itself are visible as it moves.

"Whatever you've heard about this thing, when you go to see it yourself, you won't be disappointed," said Dickens, the senior manager at Union Pacific Heritage Operations and locomotive engineer. "The following of the Big Boy has grown so much because of word-of-mouth."

The 'Heartland of America' Midwest tour

After starting in Wyoming, Big Boy traveled to nine other states and countless small communities within those states. Immediately after leaving Cheyenne, it headed through Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, then down to Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, all the way back up to Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and back to Cheyenne. All in all, the trip lasted 57 days.

The train had whistle-stops in many cities along the way, but had four all-day stops in three major cities.

Big Boy No. 4014 was on display one day in Rochelle, Illinois in September, one day in Houston, Texas in October and two in Fort Worth, Texas.

Here, anybody traveling to see the historical train could take in its beauty and ask the team questions. Usually, for public display days, the team would see about 150 to 200 people at each stop, where it would have equipment open and available to the public.

There were five whistle stops in Nebraska, three in Iowa, four in Illinois, three in Missouri, six in Arkansas, nine in Texas, three in Oklahoma, five in Kansas and two in Colorado.

"We were really excited about sharing the locomotive with our employees, retirees and families," said Dickens. "Some were pretty big scale; we had tents and bouncy houses."

Tysver added that at every stop, the Steam Team, which has six full-time staffers, was always on-site, often working on the locomotive. Dickens is the one who leads the team, makes the plan for the tour and keeps it highly choreographed to market the tour as far in advance as possible.

"We try to be diligent with our planning and always are prepared to react to things that could happen, but we really don't have too many challenges along the way. ... We execute the tour step-by-step, and travel anywhere from 100 to 200 miles per day. We get there, then we fill the locomotive with water and fuel and do our work, just like they did back in the 1940s when these things were operating," said Dickens.

The train itself was not available for public touring because of its temperature and half of it being used for support equipment for the steam locomotive. Tours of the train were limited to invited guests, employees, business partners, and occasionally, media.

Former late night talk show host Jay Leno was one of the esteemed guests allowed to ride on the Big Boy locomotive on this tour.

With the fundraiser for the UP Railroad Museum in August, though, people were able to buy tickets to ride in one of the heritage cars for a short distance.

"Me and the team love seeing the reaction of the public and young kids. I think it's a given that the young kids are going to love the experience of a train. But let's not forget the people my age or older and our kids that are in their 70s and 80s," said Dickens. "We're all kids when the train comes to town, because it's very festive, and there is a part of it when you see it, it has an impact."

"It's an emotional experience when there's a crowd of people that are excited and waiting, and the anticipation, we can feel it when we roll into town with the Big Boy," he added. "You know that people love it. It's something that you have to experience yourself."

Safety and economic impact

No matter where it stopped, the Union Pacific team would give railfans a rundown on staying safe near the locomotive.

For example, the team had to make sure to let people know to keep at least a 25-foot distance from the tracks when taking pictures or viewing the colossal machine.

UP usually tries to discourage people from pacing the train for safety purposes and due to the impact it causes, but a couple of people did it anyway.

There's also an economic impact that people may not consider to these locomotive tours.

Wherever they tour, restaurants and local businesses usually extend their hours and create special menu items, hotels start to fill up and more parking opens up.

Tysver estimated that the team generated $3 million in revenue when it passed through Roseville, California, on its West tour.

Dickens said he met people from China, Japan, Great Britain and India.

"We have seen people coming from (around the world). ... I met several people from Australia, several people from England, several people from Germany ... ," he told the WTE. "They come from all over."

"This isn't just the U.S. There's an international audience," Dickens added. "And when they come, they'll travel with the train from stop to stop. So they might stay with the train for a week or so. One family that was with the train was traveling with us for about five days. We have several hundred people following us as we travel along."