Big Boy No. 4014 | The history behind the world’s largest steam locomotive

Newswatch 16’s Jack Culkin stopped by the Steamtown National Historic Site to learn more about the history behind the Big Boy 4014.

SCRANTON, Pa. — It’s day number three, and crowds are still taking in the Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 and 4012 at Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton.

Parked side by side, it’s a reunion that hasn’t been seen in decades.

“So there’s seven that you can find in museums around the country, but Big Boy 4012, our Big Boy here at Steamtown, is the only one where the 4014 can sit on the track right beside it,” said Jeremy Komasz, Steamtown National Historic Site Superintendent.

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Park Superintendent Jeremy Komasz says these two locomotives were part of a fleet of trains that helped build the USA prior to and during World War II. “25 Big Boys were made in Schenectady, New York. They all ran out west. Of those 25, only 8 remain, and Big Boy 4014 is the only operational Big Boy.”

But why are these Big Boys so big? Weighing roughly 1.2 million pounds loaded, Komasz says the locomotives were used to haul heavy loads. “The reason that they were designed this way and the reason they are so large was they needed the power to get over the Wasatch Mountains. What they were doing at the time is they’d have to use multiple locomotives to get over the mountains to move the freight. So they designed and built the Big Boy for that purpose to be more efficient and more cost-effective.”

Like everything, advances in rail transportation made the Big Boys more of a burden on the rails.

“So in the 50s and 60s, you saw a transition from diesel loco or from steam locomotives to diesel locomotives, so the diesels were a little bit more efficient, a little bit easier to operate. They could go longer distances,” explained Komasz.

Many of the trains were taken off the tracks, some were scrapped, and others, like 4012, sat waiting for sites like Steamtown to open.

“At some point, it made it to Nelson’s, Nelson Blount’s collection, so Steamtown USA, and it was up in Bellows Falls, Vermont, where Steamtown USA was at the time. It was then relocated here to Scranton under Steamtown USA auspices, which then became the collection that was donated to the National Park Service,” said Komasz.

While 4014 will leave the station come June 30, Big Boy 4012 will be on display for the long haul, much like its journeys through the west back when it was first built.