Union Pacific 4014: Steaming Through Illinois

On Sunday, September 8th, 2024, I ventured out to Rochelle Illinois for the first time to visit Union Pacific 4014. This was my first time ever seeing a Union Pacific Steam Locomotive and quite possibly the biggest peice of machinery I’ve ever seen in my life period! You just don’t realize how big it is until you see it. It really is massive and impressive that they restored that in 2019! While the way to get to the yard was absolute torture (I ended up walking maybe 8 miles IN TOTAL That day), it was well worth it! I also spent some time at Rochelle’s Railpark and caught a couple Union Pacific freight trains, 3 in total, the first time I ever caught Union Pacific Freight Trains. This was the day I dubbed “Foam Fest 2024.” The Following Day, Monday, September 9th, 2024, would be the day we chased 4014, and it was actually a lot easier than we thought it would be. While we had close calls, we overall had more time to spare. Truly shows how much better I’ve got with Chasing trains for the past 5 years. We ended up catching the behemoth 5 times, which is impressive especially for chasing a steam locomotive on the Class 1 and into the major metro area like Chicago. This was hands down my biggest adventure I’ve ever done so far, and it likely won’t be the last time I see UP steam. I will be heading out west next year and hopefully they are running 4014 or 844.

Shoutout to some of the people I met!

‪@ElmhurstRailfanning‬
‪@BNSFBurlingtonFan‬
‪@RailBrothersProductions‬
‪@alasdairsrailway3874‬
‪@MorgzAlexander1‬
‪@LandonsTrains‬
‪@railfan104‬
‪@CJsTrainz‬