‘Big Boy’ to Steam Into Sallisaw, Gore

Mark your calendars for Saturday, Nov. 16, when a big piece of history will be making its way to eastern Oklahoma.

Big Boy No. 4014, the largest steam locomotive in the world, will be stopping in Sallisaw and Gore as part of Union Pacific’s celebration of the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. 

The train’s Nov. 16 itinerary begins at the Van Buren, Ark., train depot, which is at the corner of Main Street and 2nd Avenue. The train will leave there at 8 a.m. and arrive at the Sallisaw depot, 101 E. Cherokee Ave., about 9:15 a.m. It will leave 15 minutes later and head to the Gore railroad station, where it will arrive at 10:15 a.m. at the corner of Southeast Railroad and South Campbell streets. It will only be at the Gore station for about 15 minutes.

The train’s stops are “viewing only” locations, meaning folks won’t be able to ride the train or take photos inside it. The quick visits are intended to give residents along the Union Pacific (UP) railway system a chance to see the newly refurbished Big Boy locomotive, the only one in operation.

As part of UP’s “Great Race Across the Southwest,” the train, the world’s only operating Big Boy locomotive, will travel through Arkansas, Oklahoma, Arizona, California, Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas, Utah and Wyoming.

The Big Boy's return to the rails is the product of more than two years of meticulous restoration work by the Union Pacific Steam Team. No. 4014 is the world's only operating Big Boy locomotive.

Laura Brown, KXMX Staff Writer

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