Union Pacific announced that 4-8-8-4 “Big Boy” 4014 would travel to Philadelphia to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. 

The tour will follow a trip to California this spring. The eastern leg will depart Cheyenne, Wyo., on May 25, and include display days in Omaha, Neb.; Chicago; Buffalo, N.Y.; and Scranton, Pa., before Big Boy’s arrival in Philadelphia for Independence Day. Additional display days are anticipated in Altoona, Pa., and St. Louis and Kansas City, Mo., before the tour concludes July 29.

The trip will mark the first time a Big Boy — one of the largest and most powerful steam locomotives ever built — will operate in the Eastern United States. 

UP also announced the release of two new commemorative locomotives. The first is SD70M 1776, featuring the “America 250” logo on the standard UP ‘Building America’ livery introduced in 2001. The second is locomotive 4547, named for President Donald J. Trump, and the third in a series of units painted to honor presidents. Previous units paid tribute to Abraham Lincoln and George H.W. Bush. —Justin Franz