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Union Pacific Big Boy

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Build date 1941–1944

The Union Pacific Big Boy is a type of simple articulated 4-8-8-4 steam locomotive manufactured by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) between 1941 and 1944 and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad in revenue service until 1959

The 25 Big Boy locomotives were built to haul freight over the Wasatch mountains between Ogden, Utah, and Green River, Wyoming. In the late 1940s, they were reassigned to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where they hauled freight over Sherman Hill to Laramie, Wyoming. They were the only locomotives to use a 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement: four-wheel leading truck for stability entering curves, two sets of eight driving wheels and a four-wheel trailing truck to support the large firebox.


Loco weight 762,000 lb
(345,600 kg)
(762,000 lb
(345.6 t; 381.0 short tons; 340.2 long tons))

Tender weight 342,200 lb
(155,220 kg) (2/3 load)

Total weight 1,250,000 lb
(567,000 kg)


Maximum speed 80 mph (130 km/h)
Power output 5,300–7,000 hp (4,000–5,200 kW) @ 41 mph

In modeling
Big Boy models are quite popular with many manufacturers. They are produced by such companies as Athearn, Bowser, Precision Craft Models, Revell, Rivarossi-Hornby. Also, an exclusive all-metal model of the Big Boy steam locomotive is produced by Märklin.

Of the original 25 Big Boy locomotives, seven are on static display: two of these are displayed indoors while the other five are displayed outdoors without protection from the elements. An eighth, Union Pacific 4014, has been rebuilt to operating condition by Union Pacific as part of its steam program.







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