Steam & Excursion > UP 4014 West tour details announced

It looks like UP 4014 will be retracing the same route out to California coming west down the Feather River but will be going down the former SP east valley line from Marysville with a whistle stop in Lincoln then onto Roseville this time. Then, back east working up Donner. Looking forward to seeing Bigboy out west again and also soon seeing what the East coast tour will look like.

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/26 11:02 by GNRocky.

Schedule:
https://www.up.com/about-us/history/steam/schedule

Providing a link to the Railfan & Railroad news article on this.  Included in that article is a link to the NS filing for an FRA exemption to operate 4014 in cab signal territory with a general timeline and idea of what lines this encompasses.  It's an interesting read.

https://railfan.com/up-releases-big-boy-western-tour-schedule/

Seperate link to the FRA filing:

https://railfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/FRA-2026-0497-0001_attachment_1.pdf

So I’m wondering if Roseville will be the closest it gets to the coast on the West coast part of the tour. It sure would be awesome if it went to the Pacific Northwest later on during the year.

Posted from iPhone

Lucasjames Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Providing a link to the Railfan & Railroad news
> article on this.  Included in that article is a
> link to the NS filing for an FRA exemption to
> operate 4014 in cab signal territory with a
> general timeline and idea of what lines this
> encompasses.  It's an interesting read.
>
> https://railfan.com/up-releases-big-boy-western-to
> ur-schedule/
>
> Seperate link to the FRA filing:
>
> https://railfan.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/FRA
> -2026-0497-0001_attachment_1.pdf

This is great news for steam fans in the East. Thanks for sharing!

Steve Gass
Linden, VA
B-LineRailfan

I am curious as to why the steamers go to Roseville and return via nearly the same route instead of going south through California and then east from SoCal to Las Vegas. Can Tehachapi not accomodate the Big Boy?  Seems to get more bang for the buck since most of the route to Roseville is through low density populated areas and it seems the intent of the steam tours is for exposure.

 

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

seems they want to stay out of the busiest lines traffic bottle necks if possible a lot of the time

I cannot fathom why Union Pacific refuses to Bring 4014 to the Bay Area, where it would be a world class media event.  If turning is a problem, come in over Altamont, head up the CAL-P, then on to Roseville.  Oakland yard is largely empty, and there is plenty of space to display it; 3985 has visited before.   This sure seems like a missed opportunity to reach a broader audience.  Roseville is a bit of a backwater relative to the Bay Area.  Curious.

The steam crew are probably worried 4014 will get stolen and or get mugged! 

beefnlee Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The steam crew are probably worried 4014 will get
> stolen and or get mugged! 

I could not resist.

Todd Clark
Canyon Country, CA
Trainorders.com

---

What, no tagging?

lol
 

Cheyenne Wyoming: “NO PUBLIC ACCESS” Don’t even think about trying to see a steam locomotive in
Cheyenne.
 
"STEAMY CLUB...Please report to your authorized photo location no more than 30 minutes before the scheduled arrival of the steam special. When you are finished, proceed in an orderly, single file line to the authorized parking area. ...Stay tuned for more rules…"
 
“Click here for your official steamy club cap.”


GNRocky Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> It looks like UP 4014 will be retracing the same
> route out to California coming west down the
> Feather River but will be going down the former SP
> east valley line from Marysville with a whistle
> stop in Lincoln then onto Roseville this time.
> Then, back east working up Donner. Looking
> forward to seeing Bigboy out west again and also
> soon seeing what the East coast tour will look
> like.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Lightning_Slinger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cheyenne Wyoming: “NO PUBLIC ACCESS” Don’t
> even think about trying to see a steam locomotive
> in
> Cheyenne.
>  
> "STEAMY CLUB...Please report to your authorized
> photo location no more than 30 minutes before the
> scheduled arrival of the steam special. When you
> are finished, proceed in an orderly, single file
> line to the authorized parking area. ...Stay tuned
> for more rules…"
>  
> “Click here for your official steamy club
> cap.”

😂🤣😂🤣

As I expected with the 4014 schedule. The UP will not run steam to the PNW for a very long time.

Lightning_Slinger Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Cheyenne Wyoming: “NO PUBLIC ACCESS” Don’t
> even think about trying to see a steam locomotive
> in
> Cheyenne.
>  
> "STEAMY CLUB...Please report to your authorized
> photo location no more than 30 minutes before the
> scheduled arrival of the steam special. When you
> are finished, proceed in an orderly, single file
> line to the authorized parking area. ...Stay tuned
> for more rules…"
>  
> “Click here for your official steamy club
> cap.”
>
>
> GNRocky Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > It looks like UP 4014 will be retracing the
> same
> > route out to California coming west down the
> > Feather River but will be going down the former
> SP
> > east valley line from Marysville with a whistle
> > stop in Lincoln then onto Roseville this time.
> > Then, back east working up Donner. Looking
> > forward to seeing Bigboy out west again and
> also
> > soon seeing what the East coast tour will look
> > like.
> >
> > Posted from iPhone

And when Steve and the guys and the crews before them were more friendly to railfans compared to now, man how times have changed!