Events and Activities : The Union Pacific's Big Boy to stop in Belle Plaine Wednesday Morning

The Union Pacific will be taking "Big Boy" No. 4014 across Iowa leaving Cedar Rapids Wednesday to make a stop in Belle Plaine from 10:15-10:30 a.m. It will leave Omaha, Nebraska, and ride through western Iowa to Boone.

The steam-powered train will make a stop in Belle Plaine where it can be seen up close. 12th Street (Main Street) between 8th and 8th Avenue will be blocked to all vehicle traffic during this time so that visitors can have better access to the train.

Big Boy and 24 other Big Boys were operating until 1961 when they were replaced by diesel engines. This particular train was delivered to the Union Pacific in 1941 and logged 1,031,205 miles during the 20 years that it was in service. In 2013, the Union Pacific reacquired Big Boy 4014 from the Rail Gaints Museum in Pomona, California and took it back to Cheyenne to begin restoration.

The train is described as a mobile train museum which has been restored over a two year period. Big Boy is touring the Midwest and has several stopping points in Iowa as part of the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad.

Make plans to stop in Belle Plaine to see Big Boy on Wednesday morning!