Big Boy 4014 Is Coming To Your City — 3 Men Died Inside One. Union Pacific Never Said A Word.

Big Boy 4014 Is Coming To Your City — 3 Men Died Inside One. Union Pacific Never Said A Word. In 2026, Union Pacific's Big Boy No. 4014 is rolling across America for the first time in the locomotive's history — 10 states, 8 major cities, a Fourth of July celebration in Philadelphia. It is the world's largest operating steam locomotive, a 1.2-million-pound machine that once hauled 4,200 tons unassisted over the Rocky Mountains. The celebration is real. But there is a story in the railroad's own archives that has never appeared in a single piece of promotional material — not in 1953, not in 2019, and not now. On April 27, 1953, Big Boy No. 4005 struck an open siding switch at 50 mph in southern Wyoming. Engineer Leo Murry, 42, and Fireman Lawrence Endres, 23, were killed on impact — Endres had returned from Korean War Army service weeks before. Brakeman James Anderton survived the crash but was trapped in the destroyed cab for ten hours. He died two days later from burns covering 80% of his body. The switch had been operated by a worker who had been on the job for 80 minutes and did not speak English. The investigation was held behind closed doors. No public hearing. No press access. The ICC and Union Pacific found foreman Kenneth Mayfield and section worker Ralph Vicenty responsible. What sentences were handed down has never been public. No. 4005 was repaired and returned to revenue service. It ran for nine more years. This is the full history of the Union Pacific Big Boy — from President Jeffers' mandate to engineer Otto Jabelmann to build the largest locomotive in American history, to the coal mine economics that made these machines an industrial weapon, to the morning three men left Rawlins, Wyoming, and did not come home. If you are planning to see the 2026 coast-to-coast tour, watch this first. Big Boy 4005 is preserved at the Forney Museum of Transportation in Denver. The derailment scars are still on its left side. Every April 27 they hold Big Boy Day in memory of Leo Murry, Lawrence Endres, and James Anderton. Chapters: 00:00 The Machine Coming To Your City 03:00 The Numbers You Need To Know 04:30 The Mandate and the Machine 08:30 What a Million-Pound Locomotive Could Do 12:00 April 27, 1953 — Red Desert, Wyoming 17:00 What Union Pacific Did Next References: "Big Boy 4005 Wreck." Forney Museum of Transportation. forneymuseum.org/News_BigBoyWreck.html "Union Pacific Big Boy." Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Pacific_Big_Boy "Union Pacific 4014." Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Pacific_4014 "Union Pacific No. 4005." Locomotive Wiki. locomotive.fandom.com/wiki/Union_Pacific_No._4005 "Big Boy Northeast Tour." UP Press Release, April 28, 2026. up.com/news/heritage/big-boy-northeast-tour-dates-260428 "Bucking Boy: The 1953 Wamsutter Derailment." Max S., Medium, 2023. mx-schroeder.medium.com/bucking-boy-the-1953-wamsutter-usa-train-derailment-38ae8420f9df "Big Boy Men." Trains Magazine. trains.com/trn/railroads/history/the_big_boy_men/ "Big Boy story began in 1940." Trains Magazine. trains.com/trn/railroads/locomotives/big-boy-story-began-in-1940/ "The Union Pacific Big Boy Story." Steam Giants. steamgiants.com/big-boy/history/union-pacific-big-boy-story/ "Big Boy No. 4014." Union Pacific. up.com/about-us/history/steam/big-boy-4014 "Big Boy 4014 Coast-to-Coast Tour." Trains.com Store, Jan 2026. shop.trains.com/blogs/the-trains-com-store-blog/big-boy-4014-leads-the-first-ever-coast-to-coast-steam-tour "Big Boy 4014 on Modern Rails." Trains.com Store. shop.trains.com/blogs/the-trains-com-store-blog/what-it-takes-to-put-big-boy-4014-on-modern-rails "Big Boy 2026 Eastern Tour Schedule." Railfan & Railroad Magazine. railfan.com/union-pacific-2026-big-boy-eastern-tour/ "UP 4014 Outfitted With PTC." Railfan & Railroad Magazine, 2021. railfan.com/up-4014-first-main-line-steam-locomotive-outfitted-with-ptc/ "Requiem For a Heavyweight." Railway Age, May 2019. railwayage.com/freight/class-i/requiem-for-a-heavyweight/ "April 27, 1953." Trainorders.com. trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?10,4935575 "The Last Big Boys." Steam Giants. steamgiants.com/big-boy/history/surviving-big-boy-locomotives/ "How Did Big Boy Get Its Nickname." Steam Giants. steamgiants.com/big-boy/history/how-did-big-boy-get-the-nickname/ "Vena to UP Stakeholders." Railway Age, January 2026. railwayage.com/freight/class-i/vena-to-up-stakeholders-clear-on-our-vision-and-strengths/ "Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 East Coast Schedule." up.com/about-us/history/steam/schedule Project contentAmerican IronworksCreated by youAdd PDFs, documents, or other text to reference in this project.