Dexter organizes watch party for UP Big Boy

Dexter will host a watch party from 9:30-10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 13, for Union Pacific’s Big Boy 4014, a 1.2 million pound steam engine behemoth. It will pass through town in the late morning as part of its Heartland of America Tour.

It will not stop in Dexter but will pass through after leaving Poplar Bluff at 9 a.m., where it is stopping overnight.

The steam locomotive was first put in service in 1941. It was retired in 1961, according to the railroad.

“Union Pacific reacquired No. 4014 from the RailGiants Museum in Pomona, California, in 2013, and relocated it back to Cheyenne to begin a multi-year restoration process,” the railroad stated.

The train now serves as a heritage piece.

According to Union Pacific, the Heartland of America Tour will span eight weeks starting Aug. 28 when the Big Boy gets underway from Cheyenne, Wyoming. The train will snake through nine states as it makes a clockwise loop from Wyoming to Illinois to Texas then back home.

The Big Boy is nearly twice the length of the typical diesel locomotives normally seen passing through at 133 feet with its tender in tow. Originally coal-powered, the engine has since been converted to run on number five fuel oil, according to Union Pacific.

While converted, the engine will still exhaust a healthy cloud of steam.

The Big Boy’s live location can be tracked at https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/track/index.htm.

Union Pacific recommends staying at least 25 feet from the railroad tracks.

“Railroad tracks, trestles, yards, and right of way are private property. Do not trespass,” the railroad informed, “Be a safe and considerate driver. Do not pace the train.”

The train’s next stop after Poplar Bluff be Piggott, Arkansas, estimated arrival at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 13.