Union Pacific Sends Big Boy Train Ohio to Lorain, Rocky River

Union Pacific's big boy train ohio, No. 4014, is making two stops in Northeast Ohio on Monday, with an arrival in Lorain and a later whistle stop in Rocky River. The visit gives people a short window to get close to the locomotive, which the railroad says is making its first trip to Ohio in more than 80 years.

Maureen Halbur on Big Boy

Maureen Halbur, Union Pacific's General Director of Executive Services, said families and train fans have been showing up along the route. "You'll see families come out, and it's all types of individuals, right?" she said while traveling on Big Boy.

She added, "You will find various people standing next to each other and having conversations about the historical value of this, or they knew somebody who was in the transportation business. You see grandpas talking to their grandkids about it."

Two Ohio whistle stops

The whistle stops allow people 15-30 minutes to get close to the train. Big Boy stopped in Lorain on Monday morning, and it will make another whistle stop in Rocky River on Monday, July 13.

Union Pacific's eastbound tour began in April in Sacramento, California, and is scheduled to reach Philadelphia on July 4 for America's 250th birthday. Big Boy No. 4014 is one of 25 locomotives of its kind ever built, and Union Pacific describes it as the world's largest operating steam locomotive and the last operational locomotive of its kind.

Big Boy No. 4014 route

The locomotive stretches 133 feet and weighs 1.2 million pounds. For people in Northeast Ohio, Monday's stops are the closest chance to see it during this leg of the tour, with the brief whistle-stop format limiting visits to a short look rather than a long stopover.