The world’s largest steam train is heading east across the Mississippi River to help celebrate America’s 250th birthday.<\/p>\n
The train, officially known as Big Boy No. 4014, is making a 10-state swing starting in late May. Delivered to Union Pacific in 1941, the locomotive was among 25 built to haul wartime freight across the Continental Divide in Wyoming and Utah. Big Boy is the last one running, and in the 1960s was converted to burn oil instead of coal.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnion Pacific couldn\u2019t be prouder to share this powerful piece of history with the nation and to be a part of America\u2019s birthday celebration,\u201d Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena said in a statement. \u201cThis tour celebrates our company\u2019s rich 164-year history, our nation\u2019s amazing story and the people who have helped build our great country and our railroad.\u201d<\/p>\n
1<\/span> \/ 6<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The Oregon Trail<\/strong> The ground-shaking locomotive has already done a western swing through California from its home base in Cheyenne, Wyoming. It will depart again for the east on May 25. This will be the first time it has crossed the Mississippi River since its westward delivery run in 1941, according to railroad officials.<\/p>\n Big Boy is 133 feet long and weighs 1.2 million pounds. It traveled more than 1 million miles during its working life hauling freight between Cheyenne and Ogden, Utah. The train typically draws large crowds of rail enthusiasts, and it’s common to see superfans with cameras in hand chasing it in cars.<\/p>\n The Union Pacific railroad is closely tied to President Abraham Lincoln, who founded the railroad in 1862 during the Civil War as a way of helping link California to the rest of the United States. The 1869 completion of the transcontinental railroad transformed the movement of people across the country. Less than two decades years earlier, they largely walked the Oregon Trail to move west across the Mississippi River.<\/p>\nUSA TODAY’s Journeys Across America celebrate the 250th anniversary of the United States<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n
USA TODAY follows the arduous journey pioneers made along the Oregon Trail as they looked west to new opportunities.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n