A Last-minute road trip from Massachusetts to Sterling and Rochelle, IL as well as a visit to 4006 in St. Louis.
If anybody would have asked me in Mid-August if I would have driven halfway across the country to see a train, I would have told them they were nuts. But then again, I’ve been known to do some pretty silly, spur-of-the-moment things!
My 20 year old son loves trains. …specifically, old steam. I’m not sure if he just never outgrew the whole Thomas the Tank Engine thing, or what, but he’s definitely become a pretty big rail fan. His favorites have become the enormous steam locomotives that hauled freight over the mountains. These monstrosities were pretty short-lived, as their heyday was cut short by the proliferation of Diesel-Electric technology. I think that he was first blown away by the sheer size of the Chesapeake and Ohio 1601 Allegheny at the Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation in Dearborn, MI that we visited over the summer of 2022. Since then, he’s really gravitated towards the Union Pacific Big Boys. He bought a LEGO-style kit and a RivaRossi HO scale locomotive (even though we no longer have an HO Layout, and the one we did have could never have handled the huge radius required for this huge thing)…
This past spring he took a drive out to Steamtown in Scranton PA to see 4012. Then, we headed to the Strasburg Railroad to see more steam, and take a few rides. He then headed to Denver in August for a Boy Scout/OA event, and while he was there, he visited a few rail museums. This included the Forney Museum of Transportation, where 4005 is on display.
Prior to his trip to Denver, we were talking one evening over dinner and he had mentioned his desire to see all 8 surviving Big Boys (25 were made, but only 8 remain). He had told me about 4014, a Big Boy locomotive that Union Pacific brought back to life after a 52 year nap at the Rail Giants Museum in Pomona, CA. It spends most of its time at the Steam Shop in Cheyenne, WY, but takes a few voyages each year. Little did he know, I had signed up for Union Pacific’s Steam Club, so I’d receive updates on all scheduled trips.
Being on the east coast, the chances of seeing 4014 were extremely remote, as it tours exclusively on Union Pacific lines due to the intense maintenance and support needed to run. However, I knew that they were about to release a schedule for the fall of 2024 that was termed the “Heartland of America Tour.”
Sure enough, the schedule was officially released on August 12th, and it was set to visit the Chicago area for only the 2nd time since 2019 when it was restored. Sure, Chicago is a 16-hour drive, but the way I saw it, there was no better opportunity!
The Plan…
I didn’t want to get his hopes up, so I quietly planned a trip without his knowledge until I had more information, like what his fall college courseload and schedule was like. I was looking at the Friday afternoon Whistle Stop in Sterling, IL on 9/6, and the public display in Rochelle, IL on Sunday, 9/8. There was a private UP event on Saturday that we obviously wouldn’t be able to attend, so that left me with an open day on Saturday. As it turned out, my son has his last class of the week on Thursday morning, and his next class isn’t until 8:30am on Monday morning. YES! …time to let him know my plans!
I had secured a rental car, as there was NO WAY I wanted to put that kind of mileage on any of my own vehicles. We were to leave right after his class on Thursday. We’d cut through Ontario at Niagra Falls and arrive in Detroit Thursday night (a 10-hour drive). I had a comped room booked at the MGM Grand Detroit, where we’d get a few hours sleep. From there, we’d get a very early start and drive the remaining 6 hours to Sterling, IL, where we’d meet 4014 for its Whistle Stop. After it’s 15-minute stop in Sterling, it would continue on to the UP G3 yard in Rochelle, IL. The goal was to try to pass 4014 after it’s departure so we could see it in action. After that, we’d spend 2 nights camping at Shabbona Lake State Park. Sunday, we’d head back up to Rochelle for the public viewing, and then, from there, head directly home. I know that we’d be cutting it close, but the plan was to drive the 16 hours all the way back home in one shot, stopping only for gas/bathrooms, so he could make his 8:30am class on Monday morning.
It was a pretty ambitious plan, and I figured that we’d just relax at the campground on Saturday, maybe renting a boat and spending the day fishing out on the water. It was about 3 days before we left that I took a look at where the remaining Big Boys were that he still needed to see. I’m glad I did, because I then learned that 4006 was in St. Louis (4 hours from our campsite), and 4017 was in Green Bay, WI (3.5 hours from our campsite). Why relax on Saturday when we could knock another locomotive off his list? I gave him the option. 4017 was indoors and in better condition, but 4006 allowed access to the cab. He decided on St. Louis, which was fine by me because we’d have to drive on Interstate 55, which parallelled Historic Route 66. Also, I was excited about seeing the St. Louis Arch, and maybe having some BBQ!
The Trip West…
I work 3rd shift at my “real” job, so I got out of work on Thursday morning at 6am. I was hoping for more, but I was only able to get about 2 hours sleep. I was pretty excited, and had already started getting caffeinated for my drive. Because my son is only 20, he technically wasn’t able to do any driving in the rental. The dude took forever to get home from school, and we didn’t end up leaving until after 1pm.
My route had me crossing into Canada at the Peace Bridge in Niagra Falls, but I wanted to fill up my gas tank at the last possible minute, and I had my son navigate me to a gas station that was close to the border. This gave our course a deviation, and GPS was now telling me to cross the Rainbow Bridge. I didn’t complain even though it was a little more out of the way, it was a far more ideal way to catch a glimpse of the falls. We did take a 5 minute detour and drove down the Niagra River Parkway. I couldn’t find a place to park, so I ditched the car in a bus lane (no parking zone). My son was mortified, but we got out of the car and ran to the walkway where we took some short video and a selfie. Honestly, I felt like Clark Griswold when he visited the Grand Canyon in the classic movie Vacation. We literally enjoyed the falls for all of 2 minutes before we hopped back into the car and headed back on our way.
The rest of Ontario was pretty uneventful, and we crossed the Ambassador Bridge from Windsor into Detroit around 11pm. I have to admit, I was pretty exhausted and all I wanted to do was sleep. Since I my room was comped, I figured I had to head downstairs and give the casino a little play. I wandered back upstairs about an hour later, up $200. Not a huge win, but definitely a bonus…
5am came very early. After gassing back up and grabbing a Biggby’s Coffee (the Mocha Cold Brew is outstanding), we were off to Sterling. Our route took us well west of Chicago, and we were only able to catch a glimpse of the skyline once, while we were travelling over an elevated overpass. It was my second time in the Chicago area, and I honestly was very surprised at how quickly the landscape turns very rural not far from the metro area. There’s nothing but cornfields, soybeans, and wind turbines.
We had made great time, and were very early. We couldn’t be late, and I knew that heading west would give me an hour buffer as we crossed time zones. We ended up getting off the highway in Rochelle. I did this because I wanted to physically see the spots that I had determined would be the best to intercept the train once it left Sterling. I figured the absolute best spot would be along Track Road, which parallels the tracks immediately off of Route 38 just east of the small town of Franklin Grove. Route 38 is on the north side of the tracks, and after a crossing, Track Rd follows the tracks for almost 2 miles. There really weren’t any other options, as the roads in that area typically run N-S / E-W, while the track cuts through them diagonally.
I had a plan on how to quickly get to Track Rd once we left Sterling, but as it turned out, some of the roads that I planned on taking were closed, like Bloody Gulch. This put us in a precarious spot, and I honestly wasn’t sure how we could make an intercept possible.
Sterling, IL Whistle Stop
The Whistle Stop was technically supposed to be in front of the Farmer’s Market on 2nd St. Our goal was to park on the south side of the tracks in Sterling. We agreed that it would be best for several reasons. First, it would be less crowded. Second, it allowed for the easiest escape to the highway to head east on Wallace St, then South on 1st Ave for an intercept further down the line. Lastly, it offered the best lighting for pictures and video.
We arrived in Sterling around 11:30am, with plenty of time to spare. There were already plenty of people setting up, but most were on the north side of the tracks. We had picked a great spot on the south side, about 100 yards past the crossing at Ave B, right in front. The town had put together a cute event out of the stop, and there were vendors, food trucks, and music/announcements. The arrival time was scheduled at 1:30pm, so the waiting game began.
There is a north and south track here, and while we were waiting, we watched two long Union Pacific trains pass by. They were moving pretty quickly, probably around 50mph. There was a woman on a public address system providing updates, and she was mentioning that 4014 was scheduled to arrive on the north track, and constantly reminded us that the south track would be live, and to stay far, far away from it. As we neared 1:30pm, the area became quite crowded, and I was glad that we showed up when we did!
As it turned out, 4014 arrived on the SOUTH track, which was perfect for us! Unfortunately, it ended up stopping much closer to the crossing than where we had positioned ourselves, so once we realized that it had stopped, we had to relocate quickly before the prime viewing spots were over-run with spectators.
I had taken a 24-minute video of the entire Whistle Stop, but edited it down to just a few minutes to post here:
My son was in absolute heaven! For me, the thing that really impressed me was the whistle. I have never heard a sound quite like that before. I will never, ever, forget it’s sound. It was loud, powerful, and everything about it meant business. My other immediate takeaway was the grease and oil dripping everywhere. Just like the steam locomotive that we recently saw at the Strasburg Railroad, I was struck with the feeling that this thing was alive. It was a living, breathing beast.
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end, and this Whistle Stop was only scheduled for 15 minutes. In reality, it arrived slightly early, and stayed a little longer. As soon as it started to move, I knew that we had to boogie on out of there too!
We left the town of Sterling easy enough, and headed south through Rock Falls. I jumped on I-88 for a quick exit, and then got onto Rte 30 heading East. We had plugged Track Rd. into our GPS and let it pick the fastest route. I was surprised when it said to head east on 30 for 17 miles! My first thought was that it was wrong, but I went with it. The good news is that Rte 30 is a pretty major road that heads out of town into a very rural area. The road is dead straight and had very little traffic. I’m honestly not sure what the speed limit was, but I’m pretty sure I was going between 80-90mph most of the way! I don’t remember what street it had us turn left on to get back to the tracks, but it also was a pretty straight road. Since we had travelled two sides of a right triangle, we were so far away from the tracks that we had no idea if we had beaten it or not. As we approached the crossing, we saw that there were still cars there and people watching, so we knew that we beat it. We were still racing towards the crossing when we saw the lights start flashing and the gates come down. Ugh! We beat it, but just barely! As we started to slow for the crossing, we heard its whistle roar, and it suddenly appeared out of the cornfield and raced past us. Damn! We didn’t get in front of it!
As soon as the gates raised, we raced after it. My son was in the backseat of our rental so he could bounce between the driver’s and passenger’s sides to get video. Since he was in the backseat, his footage of the crossing here is kind of funny. The window is open, so the whistle is very definitive, and he’s zoomed in as it roars past us. I now wasn’t sure if I could get ahead of it.
We took a left on Rte 38 (Lincoln Hwy), and thankfully there was no traffic. I figured that there would be mountains of people pacing the train, but we were the only idiots doing so. I was able to get ahead of it, but just barely. We were direclty alongside it as it went through Franklin Grove, and it was pretty cool looking down the residential streets at each crossing. We could hear it’s whistle constantly roaring and would catch a glimpse of it every time we passed a street.
After we cleared Franklin Grove, I had a decision to make. Could I beat the train at the crossing and get to Track Rd? I didn’t think so, but I figured I’d do my best. I think I could have done it if it weren’t for the timing of the gates. I think that the gates are set to come down pretty early due to the fact that normally freight trains are doing 60-70mph through there. While I did beat the train, I did not beat the gate. So, I missed my opportunity to drive directly alongside the train for several miles. The good thing was that there was a driveway that extended for probably a half mile on the north side of the track, so I was able to bypass the crossing and still drive alongside it for a stretch. It was a dirt road, and 4014 was definitely overtaking us. …but it was the best I could do.
Looking back at our chase, while I wish that we were able to get ahead of it at that first crossing in order to make it to Track Rd in time, if we were 30 seconds later, we would have missed out on everything. If we had taken any other route, we’d have completely missed it. I honestly believe that we were the only people who were able to see 4014 in Sterling and also intercept it later. In fact, after we got to the end of that driveway, we had stopped and relived our chase and watched videos. About 10 minutes later, another father/son couple pulled up to us and asked us if they missed it. They too were in Sterling but missed the train in motion.
We headed back to Sterling, had a quick meal at DQ, and then drove to Rochelle to scope out our next move. 4014 was already at the Global 3 yard and was hidden from view. We explored Rochelle briefly, and then headed to our campsite to set up before it got dark.
Shabbona Lake State Park was a cute place, and I was able to snap a quick picture of the lake as it grew dark. We honestly didn’t enjoy it too much because we were tired, and we had another very early morning ahead of us.
An interesting side-note, Union Pacific offered 4 cab rides in 4014 for auction taking place on Thursday, 9/5 (the day before we saw it). Apparently, Jay Leno was on board. Not sure if he bid and won an auction or it was something else, but it’s still pretty cool.
The Drive to St. Louis
We got another early start and drove to St. Louis. I allowed plenty of time to venture off I-55 and make various stops along Historic Route 66 between Bloomington and Springfield. Maybe Route 66 is kinda hokey, but it’s been something that I’ve wanted to visit for a while. Maybe it’s because, like steam railroading, it’s a relic of a by-gone era that still has cultural and historical significance.
I honestly was pretty surprised at how little there is between Chicago and St. Louis. It’s basically 5 hours of farmland, which wasn’t really what I expected. We were able to briefly check out some of the roadside oddities. We quickly grabbed some pastries from Jubelt’s Bakery, and I wish that we had the time to sit down and enjoy a full breakfast. The food there looked amazing! The pastries sure were!
I don’t think my son was too familiar with the St. Louis Arch, and he had no idea how truly enormous it is. Giving it a look while heading over the Mississippi River, I think I made the decision that I NEVER want to take the ride up to the top of that thing. The whole concept of it seems kinda sketchy…
4006 and the National Transportation Museum
We arrived at the National Transportation Museum around 10:30am, and stayed almost until closing. While many of the exhibits seemed geared more towards kids, we enjoyed seeing the rail exhibits. The automotive exhibit wasn’t really that great, but we enjoyed seeing the Chrysler Turbine Car, as well as the “Bobby Darin Dream Car.”
The railroad stuff was far more extensive, and that’s where we spent the majority of our time. There were plenty of steam locomotives to explore, along with UP 4006.
Honestly, 4006 was neat to see because my son and I were able to get far closer to it than we could 4014 the previous day (even though we were VERY close to 4014)… He was able to explain to me all of the details of it, and I was amazed at how knowledgeable he was about all of the pieces on display.
He definitely was not happy with its condition, though… He was mortified at 4006’s state of disrepair. I think that of the 4 he has seen, this one was in the worst condition. There were many missing pieces from the cab, and from what I understand, that’s to be expected. Forney’s 4005 is kept inside, protected from the elements. Steamtown’s 4012, while outside, is in very good condition. He says that it was a possible candidate for a full restoration, so I can only imagine the shape that it’s in.
After seeing 4014 in action the day before, 4006 made me sad. I’m not really sure if I can explain exactly what I felt, but I’ll give it my best shot: Like all of the other pieces on display there, 4006 definitely seemed like a just a carcass. It was a shadow of its former self, with rust, oil, and dirt just covered up in a fresh coat of paint. Feeling pieces of it that didn’t even feel like metal due to the rot made me realize that it will never, ever move again. It was almost as if yesterday I saw a living, breathing machine, but today I saw the same machine as a corpse. Completely embalmed, entombed, and just something neat to look at. It’s whistle will never blow, it’s boiler dead, cold, and rusty. It had no soul and was the complete opposite of 4014.
When we travel, we do our best to seek out local cuisine. While there are several foods that the St. Louis area is known for, I really wanted to make it a point to have some excellent BBQ (especially since we didn’t get any when we visited Memphis). We had several great options to choose from, and we ended up going with Pappy’s Smokehouse. Wow. We each ordered a full slab of ribs. Yeah, they definitely were the best I’d ever had. By far!
Union Pacific Global 3, Rochelle, IL
Union Pacific’s Global III facility is located in Rochelle, IL, and it was open to the public for a viewing of 4014 from 9am-3pm. I honestly wasn’t sure what to expect. I had scoured news articles and broadcasts from the area prior to our trip, and it looked like all of the local media was talking up the Whistle Stops as the best places to see it. There was very little mention of this public display, and most searches of 4014 and Rochelle mentioned the Whistle Stop that would be occurring there at the Railroad Park on Monday Morning (which would be happening when we were already back in Massachusetts). I was anticipating any crowds showing up early, and then dwindling down as the afternoon wore on. Unfortunately, I couldn’t have been more wrong!
The last two mornings, we had woken up at 5am to get where we needed to be. We were able to sleep in on this Sunday until 7am, which almost was too late. I woke up about a half hour before my alarm, and actually started getting ready. We had to tear down our campsite and get it all packed up, since we were going to be headed home directly from seeing 4014. I would have loved to have been able to stop for breakfast, since we were going to be in a train yard all day. Packing up took longer than expected (as it always seems to), and we were forced to rely on the Pop Tarts and granola bars that I had packed just in case.
My goal was to show up at G3 around 8:30/8:45am, and that’s exactly what we did. As we turned down Intermodal Drive, there was already a line of cars waiting to enter the facility. It wasn’t horrible, though, as we were parked and walking towards the train shortly after 9am.
I was amazed at how enormous the facility was! It shouldn’t have surprised me, though, as I had scoped everything out (as I ususally do) on satellite view of Google Maps well ahead of time. I should have noticed the nearby airport and used the runway to guage the size.
Walking up to the train from the rear, the first cool thing we saw was the distinct 4014 placard. Of course we needed to take some selfies before we continued walking to the front of the train.
Since we pretty much opened up the event, crowds were fairly light. Knowing that they were going to build throughout the day, we figured NOW was the time to grab souveniers. Not only because of the lines, but also because of the availability. I wanted to get 4014 hats for both of us, but I also needed a pin, because we collect them from all of our travels.
I have to admit, I was pretty naive. As I was planning this trip, I was hoping that we could BS my way under the ropes and my son could get into the cab for a selfie. Yeah, that wasn’t really ever an option. I was prepared to bribe the crew, but the opportunity really never presented itself. Some folks were able to go up and inside, but they were UP employees, military, and invited museum guests. We’ll do it, but not yet. It’ll probably happen if we ever venture back to Cheyenne for Depot Days, which allow tours of the UP Steam Shop.
As the locomotive was stationary, they were holding steam, but barely enough pressure to blow the whistle. Every now and then someone up in the cab would pull the whistle, and the growing crowd would cheer. Sadly, it’s under-pressured whistle was a far cry from that magnificent sound we heard a few days earlier.
I had to run back to the car for something (I don’t remember what it was) but decided to shoot a video of me walking back, documenting the entire length of the train. One thing that is notable is how immaculate the entire thing is. The attention to detail is incredible. In Sterling, every moving part was covered in oil. In Rochelle, everything was completely wiped down.
So at this point, it was starting to get to be around 2pm on Sunday. My son had to be in school on Monday morning at 8am, and we still had a 17 hour drive ahead of us. It was going to be tight, so unfortunately we had to hit the road.
The public display of 4014 at Rochelle was supposed to last until 3pm. We had left with only about an hour left, and we could not believe the line of cars of people still waiting to get in.
When we got home, I had looked into news reports that cars had been backed up all the way onto the highway. People had abandoned their cars up to 3 miles away to walk in because traffic was at a standstill for hours. From what I heard, the UP 4014 crew stayed there as late as they needed to in order to make sure that nobody was turned away. That is a fantastic PR and customer service move by UP! But, I’m so glad that we got in early enough to avoid that nightmare!
The Drive Home…
2850 miles in 90 hours. …all to see a train! It’s been 2 weeks since we’ve returned home. I’ve been following 4014’s journey vicariously through the hundreds of Facebook posts on various groups I belong to, and I wish that my trip wasn’t over. I would have loved to continue on and follow it along the rest of its journey.
I honestly never would have imagined that I would have enjoyed this trip as much as I did. It was a whirlwind that was over far too soon. Maybe I should be grateful for the small amount of time we had to spend with 4014 and the quality time that I was able to spend with my son, but my heart yearns to hear that whistle again.
It turns out that 4014 will head east in the summer of 2026 for the country’s 250th birthday. While dates aren’t announced at this point, it looks like they are going to do a complete coast-to-coast trip! Can’t wait to see it again! Hopefully it doesn’t interfere with other trips I have planned.
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