September 18, 2024
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Sterling added as whistle-stop for Big Boy steam engine’s fall tour

Mayor Diana Merdian is planning a celebration to accompany the Sept. 6 whistle-stop

By Brandon Clark
Full steam ahead. The worlds largest steam engine known as "Big Boy," No. 4014 enters Railroad park in Rochelle on Tuesday. The locomotive was built for Union Pacific Railroad in 1941. It was restored in 2016 and is now traveling across the United States in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad. The locomotive weights 1.2 million pounds and is 132 feet in length. The boiler holds 24,000 gallons of water. Only eight "Big Boy" locomotives are in existence and No. 4014 is the world's only operating "Big Boy" locomotive. (7-30-19)

The world's largest steam engine, known as Big Boy No. 4014, enters Railroad Park in Rochelle on July 30, 2019. (Shaw Local File Photo)

STERLING — Union Pacific has officially added Sterling as a whistle-stop along the iconic Big Boy No. 4014 steam engine’s “Heartland of America Tour.”

Big Boy will stop in Sterling from 1:30-1:45 p.m. Friday, Sept. 6, near the Twin Cities Farmer’s Market at 106 Ave. A, barring any unforeseen delays. Spectators can take pictures but are asked to keep off the tracks and maintain a minimum safe distance of 25 feet until the train comes to a complete stop, at which point visitors can get a closer look.

According to Union Pacific, Big Boy is the world’s largest operating steam locomotive. Of the 25 steam engines built during World War II, only eight survived. Big Boy is the only one still in operation. It last passed through Sterling on July 30, 2019.

Sterling Mayor Diana Merdian has been pushing for the whistle-stop ever since reaching her goal of adding Sterling to the list of more than 100 communities, including Crystal Lake and Rochelle, to be designated a “Train Town USA” by Union Pacific earlier this month.

“To be honest, I thought I had a better chance of winning the lottery than getting this train to stop,” Merdian joked. “I’m just a small-town mayor who grew up next to the tracks. So, when they told me that we got it, I had chills.”

Merdian said she is meeting with other city officials this week to plan an event for the big day commemorating the whistle-stop and the city’s “Train Town USA” designation. The designation honors communities founded by immigrants who migrated along the expanding rail lines from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean more than 150 years ago.

Big Boy’s eight-week tour starts Thursday, Aug. 29, in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and will continue across nine additional states, including Arkansas, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas before concluding in October. Fans can track Big Boy’s location as it progresses along its route via the Steam Locomotive Tracking map on Union Pacific’s website.

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Brandon Clark

I received my Associate's in Communication (Media) from Sauk Valley Community College in Dixon, IL. I'm currently finishing my Bachelor of Journalism at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL. I enjoy engaging the community in thoughtful discussion on current events and look forward to hearing what you have to say. Stay curious. Stay informed.