Union Pacific's famed Big Boy No. 4014, the world’s largest steam locomotive, will return to the rails in 2024 for a tour celebrating the railroad’s deep history and connection to communities, and its employees.

LA GRANDE — Union Pacific Railroad’s Big Boy No. 4014, the world’s largest steam locomotive, is set for a tour in 2024 though the exact route is being kept under wraps for now.

In November, a Union Pacific press release said the tour will reach all four corners of UP’s 23-state system. It will make stops in Chicago, Illinois, Dallas/Ft. Worth, Houston, Nampa, Idaho, Portland, Roseville, California, and Salt Lake City.

“When No. 4014 comes to town, we will celebrate with the communities where we operate, our employees and their families,” Union Pacific’s Chief Executive Officer Jim Vena said. “Together we will marvel at how far technology has brought us.”

A Union Pacific spokeswoman said the railroad isn’t ready yet to announce the exact route for the excursion, and won’t until sometime in early 2024. She said all the information the railroad is ready to give out about the tour is contained in the short press release.

Big Boy No. 4014 was one of 25 such locomotives built for Union Pacific. Delivered in 1941, it was 132 feet long and weighed 1.2 million pounds. The Big Boy locomotives operated between Ogden, Utah, and Cheyenne, Wyoming.

No. 4014 logged more than a million miles before it was retired in December, 1961. The railroad reacquired the locomotive from a museum in California in 2013 and began a multi-year restoration.

Its return to service in May 2019 marked the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad. The locomotive traveled across the upper Midwest for its initial tour.