Union Pacific’s legendary Big Boy No. 4014 steam locomotive embarked on its first coast-to-coast tour today in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary with a kickoff ceremony held at Milepost 0 in downtown Sacramento – the historic site where the Central Pacific Railroad began construction on the first transcontinental railroad line in 1863.
Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena was joined during the celebratory send-off by Toks Omishakin, secretary of California’s State Transportation Agency; Kevin McCarty, mayor of Sacramento; Tim Schroepfer, president and CEO of the California State Railroad Museum Foundation; Rosie Rios, Chair of America250, the national nonpartisan organization established by Congress to lead the nation’s 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence; and Adrian Guerrero, assistant vice president of public affairs for Union Pacific.
Big Boy will travel across 14 states during its historic tour from California to New York, with a two-day Fourth of July stop in Philadelphia, the birthplace of America.
During the first leg of the journey, Big Boy will travel east across California, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming, before returning to its home base in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It will then embark on the east leg of its tour on May 25, traveling across Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.
The tour ends July 29 in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
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