| Union Pacific 4000, the first of twenty five 4-8-8-4 Big Boy articulated steam locomotives, works uphill on the 1.14% ruling grade in Echo Canyon, (source photo) Utah. Seen pulling an eastbound 4200 ton train of Pacific Fruit Express reefer boxcars, the thunderous sound of the Big Boy’s exhaust echoes off the red rock walls. The Big Boy locomotives were the largest steam locomotives ever built. The locomotive was over 132 feet long, weighed 1,208,750 lbs, had 68-inch driving wheels, and carried a boiler pressure of 300 lbs, which produced a tractive effort of 135,375 lbs. When scrapped in August 1961, the 4000 had traveled 1,036,956 miles. |
