ROCK SPRINGS — The Big Boy is coming to town!
The Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 locomotive will be making stops in Sweetwater County as part of a coast-to-coast tour for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence’s signing.
The locomotive will be in Rock Springs March 31 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. near Elk Street and North Front Street. Then stop in Green River April 1 from 10-10:30 a.m. at 300 E. Railroad Ave. The locomotive returns to Green River April 21 from 12:45-1:30 p.m. at 300 E. Railroad Ave., then visit Point of Rocks at Black Buttes Road Crossing from 10-10:15 a.m. and Wamsutter near Broadway and Boyd Street from noon to 12:30 p.m. April 23.
The locomotive leaves its home in Cheyenne and travels to California March 29. The Big Boy will then return to Cheyenne and later travel east as part of its coast-to-coast tour.
According to the Sweetwater County Historical Museum, the Big Boy weighs 635 tons. The original tender had a capacity of 24,000 gallons of water and 28 tons of coal, The locomotive was converted to fuel oil during a 2017-2019 refit and now has a fuel capacity of 6,000 gallons. Overall, of the 25 Big Boys built between 1941 and 1944, eight survive with No. 4014 being the only one still operational.
