Cheyenne Celebrates 5Oth Anniversary Of Big Boy Locomotive

Present and past officials from the City of Cheyenne, Union Pacific Railroad and local train buffs celebrated the 50th anniversary  of the Big Boy #4004  locomotive's dedication in Holliday Park Monday.

The steam engine was originally moved to it's current location in the park in 1963 and formally dedicated on August 25, 1963.  Bill Nation, who was Cheyenne's mayor in 1963, recalled directing the crews locating the steam engine in the park at that time. Current Mayor Rick Kaysen told the crowd that the history of the Union Pacific Railroad and of Cheyenne have been intertwined since Cheyenne was first founded in 1867, adding ''we've grown up together".

Kaysen also says a ''brother train" of locomotive #4004 will be locating in Cheyenne later this year. The two locomotives are both among the 25 such engines built in the 1940's, specially designed to negotiate the steep elevations and uneven terrain faced by Union Pacific  trains in this part of the country.

Kaysen didn't identify where the second Big Boy train will be housed, except to say it will be an indoor location in Cheyenne.