Attention, Illinois train lovers: You have one last chance to catch Union Pacific’s iconic 4014 Big Boy steam engine before the locomotive chews away.
The classic train stopped in three Illinois communities in recent days — Sterling, Rochelle and Watseka — as part of its 10-state “Heartland of America” tour, which began last month in Cheyenne, Wyoming.
Ahead of its public debut in Rochelle on Sunday, extensive traffic delays and backups were reported. Pictures posted on social media showed traffic backups and a number of people trying to beat traffic and walk along the road to the display.
On Monday, Big Boy was the star of the show in Watseka as crowds upon crowds waited hours to see the locomotive up close.
On Tuesday, the locomotive will make one last stop in Illinois: in Nokomis, about 50 miles southeast of Springfield. The public will be able to view the train between 3:30-3:30 p.m., at the Maple Street Crossing, according to the latest schedule from Union Pacific. Officials had earlier announced that the train would appear earlier in the day, from 12:15 to 12:30
After the final Illinois stop, the train will travel to Missouri, Arkansas, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado.
According to officials, Big Boy No. 4014 one of 25 built in the 1940s to cope with the steep slopes of Utah’s Wasatch mountain range during World War II. It is only one of eight that survives, and the only one still in operation today.