Carol McGowan and Kathy Rosenbeck heard the whistle first.
It was fall 2024 when Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 steam locomotive rumbled through Summit. The sound was unlike anything that passes through regularly — not an ordinary train horn, but something deeper, older. By the time they reached the window, the engine had already passed. They caught only the tail end.
They were determined to see it properly.
When they learned the Big Boy was heading to Utah as part of a 250th anniversary coast-to-coast tour, they booked flights from Midway to Salt Lake City for April 18. They joined roughly 30,000 people at historic Ogden Union Station to watch the massive locomotive arrive. The train stayed parked for two days.
“Utah was beautiful,” McGowan said. “It was a great experience.”
Now the Big Boy is back in Illinois — and this time, there’s a stop close to home.
Big Boy train at Union Station in Ogden, Utah on April 19, 2026 
A rail worker in Ogden, Utah takes a minute to pose in front of Big Boy Credit: Carol McGowan 
The front of Big Boy in Odgen, Utah 4-19-26 Credit: Carol McGowan 
A crowd looks at the train with Utah’s beautiful mountain backdrop Credit: Carol McGowan 
The crew of Big Boy taking questions from the crowd Credit: Carol McGowan 
A close up of the front of the Big Boy engine Credit: Carol McGowan 
The historic Big Boy locomotive at Union Station in Ogden, Utah on 4-19-26 Credit: Carol McGowan 
Big Boy train at Union Station in Ogden, Utah on April 19, 2026 Credit: Carol McGowan
At 132 feet long and 1.2 million pounds, No. 4014 is the largest operational steam locomotive in the world. American Locomotive Company built 25 of them between 1941 and 1944 to haul heavy freight over the steep grades of Wyoming’s Wasatch Mountains. Only eight survive today, and No. 4014 is the only one still running, restored by Union Pacific in 2019 after decades on static display.
One rail fan who caught Tuesday’s arrival in West Chicago told the Daily Herald that seeing the Big Boy is “basically like The Beatles or Rolling Stones of railroading.” He has seen it four times.
This year’s tour marks America’s 250th anniversary. The eastern leg crosses 10 states with more than 50 whistle-stops and is scheduled to culminate with a Fourth of July celebration in Philadelphia. From Illinois, the locomotive travels over Norfolk Southern rail into Indiana and beyond.
West Chicago was the only public metro-area stop on the entire tour. Public viewing ran from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. today at the Larry S. Provo Union Pacific Center. Hundreds turned out Tuesday evening just for the arrival — the engine paused more than half an hour in front of the depot before the engineer drew applause by blasting the whistle.
After today, local public access ends. The locomotive is set to depart West Chicago at 8 a.m. Thursday with no stops and no public access along that segment. It then stages overnight in South Holland — in the far south suburbs of Cook County — before departing at 8 a.m. Friday. That south-suburban leg is a non-public transit move.
Union Pacific does not release arrival times for overnight staging locations, and the public is not permitted access. The next public stop is in Argos, Indiana, where the locomotive is scheduled to arrive at 2:30 p.m. EDT Friday before continuing toward Philadelphia.
No public stop is scheduled anywhere in the southwest suburbs or Will County on this tour. Union Pacific maintains a public tracker listing confirmed stops, arrival times, and updates. Note that the railroad does not provide routing or timing for non-public segments, and the schedule is subject to change.
For McGowan and Rosenbeck, Utah made the wait worthwhile. But with West Chicago just up the road, they’re not done yet.
“We’re hoping to see it again pass through the area,” McGowan said.