Well, this should answer the questions as to how the UP Big Boy is running from Steamtown to Philly.

https://www.trains.com/pro/freight/clas ... -northern/



See also:
https://www.uptraintix.org/

Well, I'm sure that'll be a madhouse. But the thought of seeing it work the grade from Pittston to Mountain Top sure is tempting. Makes me think that it probably is going to run over the R&N on the leg to Philly as well.

Hi
How fast will these tickets sell out for,,those who want to ride,, and Price of?? I think the tickets will sell out in Hours and instead of days,, just guessing here...

Chasing the train will become will become another matter,,, the roads will be busy,, and the local and state police as well a railroad police will be on hand... good luck..

UP has already announced that first priority for ticket sales will go to members of the UP Museum. Which raises the question of how many wannabe riders in the East will join or have already joined the UP Museum just for first shot at whatever tickets are offered. I suspect there aren't that many members west of the Mississippi that will head out to Pennsylvania just to ride an oddball route, but I could be surprised--remember, they don't offer many opportunities to ride behind 4014 anywhere, at any price.

Price? I'm wagering they'll start at $300-500 and up.

Any way we look at this, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (so far) for either 1) ANY ride behind 4014 anywhere and 2) "the world's biggest" running an excursion in Pennsylvania. Though, to be fair, there's nothing preventing UP, Steamtown, and Delaware-Lackawanna from offering one round-trip behind 4014 to Moscow or Tobyhanna or Carbondale.

Another point is that UP isn't exactly "barnstorming" 844 and 4014 all over the place even on their own system, never mind a planned merger partner. Many people living along UP tracks continue to whine "why won't they send the Big Boy this way?" This isn't the Southern/NS steam program of the 1970s-1980s. This is that "once in a lifetime" adventure just like the Golden Spike Limited, AFT, 3985 on the Clinchfield, Sacramento Railfair, etc. The question remains whether the B&O Museum, CSX, and/or the rail industry does anything significant for the bicentennial of railroading in North America next year--and somehow I'm not holding my breath for anything of significance.

So the R&N is offering steam-powered trips with 2102 on June 13th, June 14th and July 1st that offer a chance to see the 4014, and then a diesel trip on July 2nd, also mentioning photo opportunities of the 4014. Kind of confusing. So is the 4014 hanging around from June 13th to July 2nd? Or leaving and coming back?

Going to be really interesting to see how NPS/Steamtown fits into this. Wonder if the gap between June 14 and July 1 will be when she’s at NPS?

How will patrons on the Northbound 4014 trip be expected to get back to Nesquehoning?

People will come from all over to ride it. I'm in Seattle, but if I wasn't already booked to work that weekend, I'd be coming to ride 4014 (If I could snag tickets) and 2102, then visit the other local museums as well.





They sold 82 tickets for a trip in 2019. $3,000 for a coach seat, $5,000 for a dome seat. It's a benefit, I won't be surprised to see them over $1k, likely well over. They'll still sell out in a heartbeat.
https://www.trains.com/trn/railroads/he ... -for-dome/

Update:

Mention of a UP 4014 excursion in Pa. has been removed from the official Union Pacific train tickets website.

I noticed that a few days ago myself. I wonder if it's still on the Patreon page - but the mention of the excursion was deleted from the UP Museum tickets page the same day it magically appeared there.

Sold out?

Videoclip posted to Youtube showing UP #4014 and R&N #2102 running side-by-side leaving Pittston on June 13, 2026:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QDUZUZsb56w

I was onboard the 2102-led trip on Saturday, 6/13. They had two SD40s behind the T-1 when leaving Nesquehoning, but took them off for the return trip to Pittston. In all of the footage of the side-by-side running from that day, 2102 is hauling a fully loaded 26-car train up the grade from Pittston to Mountain Top, unassisted.

Unfortunately, this also meant that by the time we got back to Jim Thorpe Junction, we'd ran out of coal! RBMN had two diesels at the ready to tow us the rest of the way to Nesquehoning.

I've always said that the mark of a good railroad isn't just running well when things go smoothly, but instead how they react when things don't. Despite several hiccups, the trip was an unforgettable experience and was certainly worth every penny.

For those wondering, to ensure all onboard the RBMN trip could see the 4014, they kept slowing down, speeding up, slowing down again, etc. so that the locomotive was seen more than once by the whole consist. I'll never forget being in the vestibule of one of the DL&W cars and witnessing 4014 charge up the grade to catch up to the head end again.

It sounded like 4014's diesels were in idle during most of the R&N trips.

Shades of the old Steam Tours, Inc.! That is not the first time 2102 ran out of coal on an excursion. I ought to know, I was on the train at the time. On April 30, 1977, returning from the first of two excursions on the Erie Lackawanna from Kent, OH to Greenville, PA, 2102 ran out of coal about 10 miles from Kent, along the old Ravenna Arsenal. I don't know why they thought they could make it back on what they had, when it was clear during the servicing stop in Greenville that the tender was less than half-full, and they still had a photo runby to do on the return trip?

The crew scavenged old tie butts (back when cross ties were chopped in half for removal) to burn, but there was no way that was going to make enough heat to keep pressure up. Finally a Conrail trailer train came up behind us and shoved us the rest of the way to Kent. At least R&N had back-up diesels nearby. Probably should have planned to re-coal at Pittston. They do a very good job having boiler water tank cars in strategic locations for excursions. All in all, from the video I've seen it was a pretty spectacular event. Personally, I didn't want to be anywhere near that mob scene. I was in the Cuyahoga Valley photographing the last weekend of 765 on the CVSR. For a few days Northern Ohio had a wealth of steam action, with 4014 passing through as well.

was it ever confirmed that tickets were sold/passenger were on the 4014 consist?