The Flickr Unionpacific4014 Image Generatr

Thundering along the Donner Pass Route, Union Pacific 4014 charges east through Soda Springs, California. The 4014 has just started the second half of the “Westward Bound” Tour. After traveling to Roseville via the ex Western Pacific mainline (Feather River Canyon), the UP 4014 is now headed east via the old Southern Pacific mainline. After a long and challenging battle up the Donner Pass Route, the UP 4014 is now only a few miles from the summit (Tunnel 41). The high elevations and steep climb through the Sierra Nevada Mountains has to be a top highlight of entire Westward Bound Tour.

Built and delivered in 1941, the UP 4014 is one of the world famous “Big Boys”. At 132’ long and weighing 1.2 million pounds, the UP 4014 is one of the largest locomotives ever built. The UP 4014 remained in service until 1961. During its 20 year service life, it logged over a million miles along the Union Pacific system. The Big Boys were primarily utilized to haul heavy freight trains through the Wahsatch Mountains between Utah and Wyoming.

Today, the Union Pacific 4014 is the crown jewel of the UP Steam Program. Based in Cheyenne, Wyoming, the UP Steam Team services and restores a fleet of vintage locomotives. These locomotives periodically travel the UP System. These “living legends” bring joy and happiness to everyone who has a chance to see them in person.

UP 4014 — Westward Bound — Soda Springs, California

July 14th, 2024

jakemiillephotography.com

Union Pacific Big Boy no. 4014 passes by large crowds before arriving for a whistle stop in Hempstead, Texas.

Union Pacific Big Boy no. 4014 passes by a grain elevator before arriving in Houston for the weekend.

Union Pacific Big Boy no. 4014 arrives slowly into the Navasota for the next whistle stop on the journey down to Houston.

Union Pacific Big Boy no. 4014 passes by the historic Kyle Field that’s home to the Texas A&M Aggies in College Station, Texas.

Union Pacific Big Boy no. 4014 departs from Navasota while traveling south to the next stop in Hempstead.

Union Pacific Big Boy no. 4014 crosses over a rusty trestle shortly after departing from Hempstead, Texas during a trip to Houston.

UP 4014 puts a show on past Wickes after recently departing from St. Louis with a delayed departure out of the city, once it was out of the city and off the oak hill branch with its speed restrictions they were on the main at speed until reaching Kimmswick, MO

Running right on time out of Rochelle, Illinois, Union Pacific 4014 gathers speed as she brings UP P-G3SL east along the Geneva Subdivision on the Heartland Of America tour bound for their next overnight stop in Villa Grove, Illinois.

Union Pacific 4014 rolls into Omaha, NE via the Little Papillion Creek bridge

Union Pacific 4014 rolls north out of Council Bluffs and into Crescent, IA, beginning the leg of the Heartland of America Tour towards Rochelle, IL. Omaha, NE's skyline makes a nice backdrop.

UP 4014 glides over the fittingly named North Bend Cutoff Ditch near North Bend, NE.

4014 steams through Hinton, as the sun begins to set behind the Sierra Nevada's. This photo is taken from the old US 40 bridge, now Hirschdale Road, where a large group of people had also gathered. This was an unintentional spot as I was planning on heading to Verdi next, but (wrongly) figured I could shoot here and there. Of course, traffic moved at the pace of 4014 the rest of the way Verdi and as such I was unable to pass leaving this as my final view of the consist.

Union Pacific "Big Boy" 4014 races towards the end of the climb at Donner Summit, just a few mere miles--and minutes--away. By this point the train was delayed by almost 2 hours, and would suffer another delay after the brakes on one of the coaches locked up on the horseshoe just west of Truckee.

This is another vantage point from the rock I posted the previous shot, but the distance between the locomotive in the two shots is almost 2 miles. I also almost managed to cut out 1983 entirely (in what other scenario would you wish for this???), making it look like 4014 is doing all of the work.

Union Pacific 4014 "Big Boy" approaches the summit of Donner Pass, hugging the top of Sierras for the last few miles. After another stop in Emigrant Gap, for oiling from what I've heard, the train is now already late for it's Truckee departure, which is still 45 minutes away. Despite being so late, the train did stop in Truckee, but only for 5 miles or so.

I originally was not going to catch the train here and go straight to Boca, but I saw this rock outcropping from the freeway and decided to climb it, especially it would be a completely unique shot of the run, something I'm not sure many people could say they have. One reason I was a little hesitant is my camera is definitely old and doesn't like sunrise or sunset, and as I found out on this day slightly cloudy skies. As such I was forced to cut out the sky, but nevertheless got this shot of the train using my telephoto lens. From this spot, I was able to get 3 semi-unique angles, which was a great opportunity to get different frames.

Union Pacific 4014 continues the long ascent of Donner Pass as the train reaches Casa Loma, California. In the background far below is the North Fork of the American River.

I had never heard of let alone visited Casa Loma until about 15 hours before the pixels were frozen in this position, and as such expected a small crowd of people. As it turned out, the view was much better than I originally thought it would be, and the crowds were also much higher. As such, there wasn't much room, but just checking to make sure you weren't in the shot of the person behind you worked. For the most part, until two people stepped right in front and pretty much ruined the framing I had, leading me to settle for this. While I wasn't planning on getting the whole engine anyways, this hindered the overall look of the shot but I still like it for the scale it gives, as us railfans consider the Big Boy to be one of the biggest things around and it looks mighty small in this view.

A quick grab from the side of the road as 4014 approaches a planned stop at Brigham City, UT.

"Highball Blaser" was the word on the radio as UP 4014 thundered up the valley hot on the heels of a grain train some 20 minutes prior.