Footage of Union Pacific 4014 in the 1950s and 1960s

[@AtkataffTheAlpha]

A dirty, sooty, and grimy locomotive is a happy, hard-working, and really proud locomotive

[@SteamTrainFan]

Yes.

[@cbolanz1]

6290 Horsepower+135,375 LB Tractive effort=5.5 mile long train 7987 Horsepower+176,000 LB Tractive effort=??

[@1940limited]

Yes, I love how it looked back then! I've heard UP wont' pull freight with it. We wont' get to hear it really working. Excursion trains are nothing for 4014 to pull.

[@corz68]

@@1940limited they’ve said since is on the roster and if it has to it will pull freight if it makes sense.

[@1940limited]

@@corz68 I hope we get to see that!

[@michaelstrains4014]

It’s so awesome to see old footage of the 4014 doing what it was built to do and then seeing it for yourself in excursion service over half a century after these videos were taken. Who would’ve ever guessed in the 1950s that this Big Boy would be back up and running over 60 years later?

[@1940limited]

What a coincidence that the one featured here was chosen for restoration.

[@Eli_Santin]

In the 1950s people thought steam wouldn't go away.

[@Oskarsgaminglife]

And it did

[@floridaboz1]

It just got to do what it was built to do in 2023, Funny that the engine featured here is the same one to help freight in 2023

[@antiares1684]

The historical footage is pure gold! Thank you!

[@SteamTrainFan]

No problem.

[@MOHAWKL4A3124]

I may not be pulling big long trains now. But in its mechanical heart it still has the strength and power to do so.

[@maxwellwalcher6420]

Big boy 4014 is back for more.

[@SteamTrainFan]

Yup.

[@OfficialDenverRioGrandeWestern]

As of right now watching this the 4014 is actually on the move and on excursion it makes this video seem even more magical

[@thomasavensjr.2790]

Little did the 4014 know that it would be retired and then much later on in life become a massive superstar excursion locomotive 60+ years later in the future.

[@EvilTurkeySlices]

It’s lucky it wasn’t scrapped, now it’s even luckier being the world’s largest operating steam locomotive once again.

[@joeruiz4010]

@@EvilTurkeySlices I think 4014 was the first Big Boy to be preserved. It was in the best shape of all 25. Union Pacific took a lot of care in which Big Boys to preserve, so the 8 that are preserved were thoroughly inspected as the 17 others that were scrapped, and those 8 were granted preservation.

[@rudycarlson8245]

@@joeruiz4010 I think it depended on the shape they were in when they were retired from service I think it was 4023 that had the highest mileage well over 1,000,000 miles. I think it also depends on which museums asked for one. I know the one near me 4017 was asked for when it was retired and the up gladly donated it.

[@gabrielarambula4465]

@@rudycarlson8245I think it may have been 4016 that logged the most miles, though I could be wrong on that

[@mopardude824]

That was absolutely incredible. Thank you for posting these moving pictures of history.

[@zacharycalgher6001]

I've seen 4014 in Kirkwood Missouri last year, he's a beast.

[@SteamTrainFan]

I also saw Union Pacific 4014 in person... twice. Both times in Kansas City, Missouri. In 2021, I chased it from Lawrence, Kansas to Kansas City, Missouri. I have the videos on my main account where I post my train videos (Midwestern Railfan).

[@infaredxkingz8786]

You bet.

[@aaron-prime117]

An engine covered in soot, grime and dust makes for a proper engine of America on any railway. Would’ve been great to see this engine back in its day

[@Patrick_3751]

A lot of this footage seems to have come from Pentrex's Union Pacific Big Boy collection. Either way, it's pretty awesome seeing modern day excursion engines in revenue service!

[@SteamTrainFan]

Yup.

[@lucasquintanilla1673]

@@SteamTrainFan do you know of any footage of 844 and it’s days of revenue service?

[@lowrangemaniac5326]

I have goosebumps! Watching this old video of Big Boy on a duty, and watching him restored today, still doing its duty by helping a stalled train to climb a hill, just amazes me so much! Big Boy still have the old juice!

[@theraceboi3547]

Amazing piece of machinery

[@SteamTrainFan]

Indeed.

[@AlyxForest]

THIS is what this beauty was built for. It's a shame we will most likely never see her pulling long freight trains anymore. Edit: This comment aged like milk and for once that is a good thing. Proud of her.

[@rudycarlson8245]

I bet the 4014 can still do this!

[@AlyxForest]

@@rudycarlson8245 She can, yes, but unless Union Pacific is willing to allow it, she most likely never will.

[@rudycarlson8245]

@@AlyxForest yeah you’re probably right they are going to baby her a little bit with 4014 being the only big boy running

[@evanburt2766]

@@AlyxForest they want to keep her boiler in good shape probably. Look at 3985 she was ran into the ground

[@EvilTurkeySlices]

@@evanburt2766 3985 never for a proper rebuild when they brought it back into service unlike 4014, I’ think they’ll baby it for a good while(probably 2-3 years more) and then pull some big stuff.

[@jesseusgrantcanales]

Who cannot help but smile at this? Knowing the dream is real, because of this giant, Big Boy lives again, the hope fans wanted for decades blessed our prayers in 2019. :)

[@1940limited]

Even the ones that don't run are a blessing. UP saved quite a few of them. They would have brought a lot of money for scrap.

[@rudycarlson8245]

⁠@@1940limited 25 big boys were built 8 of them survived the cutting torch they chose 4014 because it was in the best condition of the eight survivors. I know they looked at 4017 up here at the national railroad museum in Green Bay but they determined that 4014 was the one

[@1940limited]

Fabulous footage. What a piece of machinery! Back when we could build something in this country. Now all we do is take in laundry and turn out hamburgers. I can't imagine what it must have ben like behind the throttle of a UP Big Boy.

[@91_C4_FL]

I wish that UP would put a heavy train behind 4014 unassisted so we could hear it talk like in this video. It's so quiet in modern day videos bc it's barely working.

[@rudycarlson8245]

Well with 4014 being the only operational big boy that is The union Pacific is going to baby her I have no doubt that the 4014 could still a train up Sherman Hill unassisted but if something breaks on this engine they have to make the part! I think once in a great while they will put her to work they have done that occasionally with the 844 and the 3985 can you imagine though if the 4014 was still coal burning? That would be exciting! The smoke she would’ve been putting out would’ve been awesome!

[@lucasquintanilla1673]

Well a while ago, you got your wish because it managed to shove a stalled diesel powered freight train, and while it was doing so you could really hear it go. There are videos of it on KZbin.

[@91_C4_FL]

@@lucasquintanilla1673 I’ve seen the video. Still not what I’m looking for.

[@lucasquintanilla1673]

@@91_C4_FL well, you must admit, you certainly could hear it going. There’s no denying it was working. I’m pretty sure one day we will see pull a large freight train, even if it won’t be quite as large as the ones that used to pull. you know what I would like to see if we could see it pulling a large freight, train, while double heading either with challenger, 3985 or a Centennial diesel

[@northpennvalleysteamrailroad]

That is so cool! She’s is as beautiful in these films as she is today!

[@SteamTrainFan]

Yup

[@rogerlollar4325]

He not she

[@1940limited]

I think even more beautiful here!

[@infaredxkingz8786]

​@rogerlollar4325 those idiots never know when to kick the feminism cloud out

[@whiteknightcat]

Oh, to have been alive in those days to have witnessed this.

[@SteamTrainFan]

I know right? I've seen it and chased Union Pacific 4014 in person. I can't imagine seeing one or more hauling a freight train.

[@whiteknightcat]

@@SteamTrainFan I've been lucky enough to have seen all three of UP's famous giants, the 844, 3985, and 4014 in action over the last 30 years.

[@aircraftandmore9775]

Awesome footage there, you can clearly hear the power of that thing

[@sorshiaemms5959]

Nice to see one locomotive pull all that freight what power glad they restored it theres always 2 to 3 diesels now

[@JacobHeiseiGojirayashazilla994]

She/he's a beast of steel, The Big Boy class is my favorite locomotive (specially 4014)

[@SteamTrainFan]

Yup.

[@infaredxkingz8786]

Bruh, it's only one gender

[@gjmob]

Imagine being in the train going the other way and entering a tunnel full of soot.

[@jacksalvin364]

Here's #4014 during his day of revenue service pulling alot of freight throughout the UP System.

[@UnionPacificFan-cu3pt]

I like that sound. 0:24 to 0:31. And the footage. Nice.

[@1940limited]

I like 4014 here as a real working locomotive with dirt.

[@southerncaliforniastuff5287]

IT'S BEAUTIFUL

[@SteamTrainFan]

Yessir.

[@johnhagan7742]

A properly serviced engine is a good engine, no matter what.

[@Henriqueleal0609]

truly beast on rails. Good to see this footage!!

[@atlantis0v-104]

2:00 Sounds like #4449's Current Hancock 3 chime

[@SteamTrainFan]

Union Pacific Big Boys also have Hancock Longbell 3 Chime whistles.

[@T128Productions]

Same with other UP locomotives, like the challenger class, the FEF series, etc.

[@kaseyleitchnextgen3281]

Too bad we won’t find any other instances of that one whistle at 2:00. @@T128Productions

[@Gabethenwr77]

I bet he will be very happy that 4014 was restored

[@SteamTrainFan]

Yup.

[@paytongauthier6452]

@@Gabethenwr77 for the last time kid, 3977 IS NOT GOING TO RUN AGAIN!

[@Gabethenwr77]

That’s what people said about the 4014 and guess what it’s operating

[@paytongauthier6452]

@@Gabethenwr77we already have 3985 being restored why do we need another challenger when we already have one

[@floridaboz1]

4014 in 2023 doing that it was built to do in 2023 Helping freight over a hill

[@DovregubbenProductions-vn3vy]

Thankfully it’s still running today.

[@cbolanz1]

What A Beast!

[@SteamTrainFan]

Indeed.

[@dennisyoung4631]

*Awesome Soot-Train!*

[@victoriaradut6386]

Merry Christmas.

[@eddielt1sl]

American Power and Might!

[@igordzukleski3851]

4014 Big boy 🚂 💨💪💪💪💪🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

[@SteamTrainFan]

Yessir

[@FabioSilva-mt9wr]

Up big boy 4014's original whistle sound like used on 844 & aft 4449

[@koayleehon5593]

THAT IS SO COOL I WISH I CAN SEE IT IN REAL LIFE

[@SteamTrainFan]

I've seen in person. It's amazing.

[@randomkid7164]

Its do an excursion

[@randomkid7164]

And it was now

[@rudycarlson8245]

@@SteamTrainFan I’ve seen 4014 twice! Once in Duluth Minnesota at the RailRoad museum there and once when she came through my hometown when the first steam locomotive you see up close and personal and get to touch is a Union pacific big boy you are spoiled for life! The first big boy that I saw was 4017 in Green Bay

[@SteamTrainFan]

@@rudycarlson8245 back in 2016 I touched Union Pacific 844's plow.

[@anthonynigri4058]

Nice video

[@SteamTrainFan]

Thanks.

[@Maniacguy2777]

So much of buttons that even EMDs don't have

[@walterpatteson3655]

glory days of steam

[@SteamTrainFan]

Yup.

[@randomkid7164]

1# Masterpiece

[@arnoldalt2571]

It is finally nice to see her doing what she was built to do without a "helper"

[@infaredxkingz8786]

Why can't you stop feminizing this engine? It's a boy, "BIG" boy. It's common sense bro

[@arnoldalt2571]

@@infaredxkingz8786 If you don't know where the name "big boy" came from, check it out and shut up.

[@ぎぼしょうた-u8z]

0:37 タイガー

[@jasondrinovsky7962]

Many people believe 4014 holds the title for hauling the last revenue train of a 4-8-8-4, she was not. On July 21st 1959 4015 rolled in with the last revenue freight train, and it was also the first of the 25 to be scrapped.

[@infaredxkingz8786]

What makes 4014 look like a girl to you?

[@MasterVideoStudios]

LONG LIVE THE KING

[@Bucket_Noob12]

Looks giant sounds giant

[@chartreuserailfanning2230]

I think it looks so much more awesome covered in soot and working with REAL freight. Wish UP would let it pull long freight trains once again, especially on lines where they claim "too much freight traffic" is the reason they can't run it there.

[@silverquillproductions4076]

Poetry in motion ❤️✨

[@vtht65]

Wow! On jointed rails.

[@ariadayja]

4014 ls the last from 1959

[@willberestartingthischanne9984]

Nice Video

[@SteamTrainFan]

Thanks.

[@AndrewTheRocketCityRailfan4014]

To me, nothing from the steam age looks or sounds as cool and surreal as footage of the Big Boys in their prime

[@brianbooher7318]

Wish they'd do like 3985an hook a 120car stack cars to her an let her eat

[@SteamTrainFan]

That would be cool.

[@brianbooher7318]

@@SteamTrainFan yes it would be;, do you ever see that happening?

[@rescue270]

Challenger pulled 143 stack cars!

[@andreasschirmer1938]

Tolle Aufnahmen!

[@tomp.6239]

Nice. 4014 is magnificent, alright; but I prefer to see em' dirty and roadworn.

[@SteamTrainFan]

Haha yeah that would be dope. Pulling a mile long manifest through Wyoming.

[@tomp.6239]

@@SteamTrainFan Got lots of old vids of Sherman Hill, back when. Wish I could've been there for those awesome, non-stop parades of big UP power.

[@tomp.6239]

They're all filthy too 😎

[@deantrainr]

Bob Ames is a class act! Wonder if he’s still around?

[@harrisonofcolorado8886]

It's awesome to see a locomotive while it was in regular service before it was retired. Don't really like the dubbed sounds though.

[@SteamTrainFan]

The sounds were already in the videos when I found them, which is actually from back then. I'm not sure if whoever put together the footage back then did that because there wasn't audio recording or if it's just the quality. Some of the footage was recorded by Union Pacific in the 1950s and 1960s, so chances are most of this is the original sound.

[@harrisonofcolorado8886]

@@SteamTrainFan oh, it's just that in GSVP's programs of old steam during the 1940s and 1950s, they usually have a message at the beginning saying that the films they had were silent films and that they chose not to dub the videos they had with sounds from say steam excursions or something. Also in Cab Forward Collection, I thought I heard a sound being used again and again and thought that Pentrex was sound dubbing the videos. So I thought that the sounds here were dubbed. Apologies if I was mistaken.

[@SteamTrainFan]

@@harrisonofcolorado8886 you would be right with that. In the cab scene, there was a part with raw sound and the rest was talking, so I just recycled the sound over the talking parts. 😅

[@FabioSilva-mt9wr]

Ted templeton as union pacific big boy 4014

[@FabioSilva-mt9wr]

Up big boy 4014 at wyoming

[@ryandunham1047]

Who is here after seeing 4014 bank a stalled manifest on Blair Hill and wanted to see him in his heyday?

[@FabioSilva-mt9wr]

Up big boy 4014

[@FabioSilva-mt9wr]

Up big boy 4014's 2021-22 trips

[@T128Productions]

This footage was taken in the 1950s and 60s, NOT in 2021 OR 2022! Can’t you just simply READ the TITLE?!

[@wolfgangkrebl3056]

She is so beautiful and full of shere power.👍❤️

[@Extremely_crazy_toaster_light]

thats cool🚂🚂

[@NW-gi1cp]

Imagine they weather the engine and put a fake coal load on the tender 😂

[@mrsaturngamingandstories]

All the big boys were retired in the 1960s so there's no way that a big boy could run in the 1960s there last run was in the late 1950s

[@theraceboi3547]

No 4014 last run was recent 😉

[@mrsaturngamingandstories]

I know but I don't care I guess

[@johnathanwoodley5005]

They retired between 1959-1962 but 4014 doing it last run before it goes into a long slumber in 1961

[@mrsaturngamingandstories]

I know but

[@proactiveomnipresentvessel6569]

Well the more accurate title I guess would be “Footage of Union Pacific 4014 in the 50s and early 60s”

[@JOEMAMA_534]

Looks better dirty than clean!

[@T128Productions]

I couldn’t agree more.

[@CoreythelordoftheIsles]

2:26 age of steam footage of 4014

[@PatrioticCoservativeAmerican]

When did engineer Bob Ames die?

[@SteamTrainFan]

I'm not sure.

[@jamesbelcher8509]

2:49 [train chugging]

[@Redwagon2012]

Big boy

[@T128Productions]

Indeed.

[@FabioSilva-mt9wr]

Ted templeton's whistle

[@T128Productions]

*sigh*

[@thomasshannon2741]

No hearing protection😮

[@T128Productions]

I’m pretty sure they had to put cotton in their ears to prevent hearing loss since there probably were no earplugs back then. At least that’s what I assume.

[@bean_bttf3]

Idk if this is a hot take or not, but in my honest opinion UP should have never restored 4014. With the way they’re going with her, she’ll never be anything more than a glorified showboat. She’ll never be used for the purpose she was built for (which was hogging long freights up and down the Wasatch & Sherman Hill), and she’ll never be seen without a diesel helper, thanks to her being forever tethered to the helper’s PTC, instead of having her own independent system. Call me a purist, call me a foamer, call me whatever you like… but that’s just how it is and I couldn’t be any more annoyed and deeply disappointed.

[@SteamTrainFan]

I love how they restored Union Pacific 4014, but I think it would be super cool to see it hauling ass on Sherman Hill. The diesel locomotive is actually used for braking and power for the coaches, and the diesel doesn't help move the Big Boy. The Big Boy is moving under its own power. I think they should get sort of like a caboose or observation car of some sort to hold the crew and such on the excursions and a generator car to go with that.

[@bean_bttf3]

@@SteamTrainFan Yeah, I completely agree with you. But see, even though the diesel isn’t providing power, it’s now the base for 4014’s PTC system which was installed between her 2019 season and her 2021 season. If I can find an article about it I’ll link it in a reply, I think UP made something themselves so I’ll see. But it’s a really big let down, majorly.

[@rudycarlson8245]

@@bean_bttf3 at least 4014 is up and running once again!

[@KeijiSuwa]

Let's be honest, most operational surviving steam locomotives aren't used the way they were "intended", but this doesn't have to be a bad thing, in fact it can actually be a good thing. Since these steam locomotives are normally run more lightly than they did in their prime it saves them a lot of wear and tear, which keeps maintenance labor and costs at a relatively optimal level. If they were run heavily like they were back then they'd be much more expensive to maintain, especially since spare parts have to all be custom machined as they're no longer manufactured. In addition, although 4014 will no longer be regularly used for freight trains, the UP have stated that they'll use 4014 for occasional freight trains when the opportunity comes, like they did with Challenger 3985 in 1990. IMO having a steam locomotive run at all is much better than keeping it on display. Steam locomotives on display are merely museum pieces, and while there's nothing really wrong with that, just sitting on display would never show anyone in person how they work and sound. Sure, you could just look up some historical videos online of the locomotive in action, but where's the fun in that? Operational steam locomotives are much more popular with railfans and tourists because, for most of them, they get to experience in person the fascinating sights and sounds of a bygone era of railroading that their parents/grandparents/great-grandparents remember so fondly. Plus steam locomotives are way more fun to watch in action than diesels and electrics. Steam locomotives are vehicles, like cars, and just like cars, especially classic/rare ones, they deserve better than to sit around and collect dust - they deserve to be driven, to be "alive".

[@ronanvave560]

@@KeijiSuwa Agreed. As a railfan said, having a steam locomotive on display is like propping up a dead corpse.

[@cavemanballistics6338]

Awesome video! But a usual On most American railroads back in the day, the fireman is always over stoking the fire. You see signs in the locomotives that say black smoke is waste. But did they care?

[@HobbiesRfun]

When they retired 4014, I wonder if they could have ever imagined it would be brought back to life in the future to steam across the rails again?

[@rudycarlson8245]

They probably did not!