MINEOLA, Texas — A steam locomotive taking a nation-wide tour will pass through East Texas this month.
Big Boy No. 4014 embarked from Cheyenne, Wyoming for its "Heartland of America" tour Wednesday, and plans to pass through Mineola on Sep. 17, and a whistle stop is planned in Big Sandy at 1 p.m. the same day.
Union Pacific notes that the schedule is subject to change. The 83-year-old locomotive will pass through nine states in its eight-week tour.
Mineola Amtrak Depot Hostess Martha Moreland said depending on the speed of the train, it should take about 22 minutes to get from Big Sandy to Mineola. The tour is set for arrival in Houston on Sunday, Oct. 6. On the return trip, a stop in Fort Worth is scheduled on Oct. 10-11 and the locomotive will return to Cheyenne through Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas and Colorado.
On its way to Texas the train will pass through Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas.
According to the Union Pacific website, 25 Big Boys were built exclusively for the company. Big Boy No. 4014 was delivered to them in 1941 and used for 20 years, traveling over 1 million miles across its career before retiring in Dec. 1961. UP returned the train to service in May 2019 following a restoration spanning several years to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. UP said the locomotives were 132 feet long and weighed 1.2 million pounds, and because of their length, the frames of the trains were “hinged” to allow them to maintain control while driving on curves.