The Largest Steam Engine Ever is Coming Back to Eastern Iowa

Make no mistake...This is a BIG ONE!

Train aficionados will be able to catch a glimpse of the largest steam engine ever built as it chugs its way back through portions of Eastern Iowa. The Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 will be back in the area on September 5th and 6th, according to the Cedar Rapids Gazette.

The engine's eight-week 'Heartland of America Tour' will leave Cheyenne, Wyoming on August 28th and travel through nine other states including  Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Texas, according to the Gazette. Union Pacific says that dates and times for the tour are subject to change.

So when will this huge steam engine be in Eastern Iowa? Here is the itinerary.

• It will leave Boone at 9 a.m. on September 5th and arrive in Belle Plaine at 12:15 p.m.
• It will leave Benton County at 12:30 p.m. at the Ninth Avenue crossing.
• The Gazette reports that the engine will likely then spend the night in Cedar Rapids. It will leave for Rochelle, Illinois on September 6th at 9 a.m.

Big Boy No. 4014 was delivered to Union Pacific in December of 1941. It was retired in 1961 and traveled over 1 million miles in 20 years of service. Union Pacific reacquired it from a museum in 2013 and began the restoration process. The huge steam engine returned to service in 2019 just in time for the 150th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad.

The steam engine was last seen in Eastern Iowa in July of 2019.

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