WATCH: Sights & Sounds of Union Pacific No. 4014 steam locomotive

Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Jeff Ralph | WEAU

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ALTOONA, Wis. (WEAU) -- The Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 locomotive made a stop in Altoona as thousands gathered to greet the train Tuesday and send it off Wednesday morning.

The 4014 is the only operational Big Boy steam locomotive in the entire world.

The trip across the Midwest by the locomotive celebrates the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad.

WEAU photojournalist Jeff Ralph compiled some of the sights and sounds of the Big Boy.

"Well this is something that we've been planning for a long time. We had heard that there were going to be large crowds at Altoona."

"You've got 7,000 horsepower and 600 tons."

"A lot of kids have never seen a steam engine, especially one as big as this...Pretty spectacular."

"I think a lot of it is just the historic nostalgia of the railroad. The old west."

"I think steam trains in particular, it's the romance of it. It's the power of the machinery, the life on the rails."

"It's kind of an emotional experience for us because people are so excited to see the locomotive. People are loving it, people are enjoying it and we're honored to have it here."

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