Today (April 11, 2022), Union Pacific released the following news:

<quote>
Union Pacific's famed Big Boy No. 4014 is set to return to the tracks this summer for its "West Coast Steam Tour." Kicking off June 26 from Cheyenne, Wyoming, this year's tour will celebrate Union Pacific's 160th anniversary, railroad heritage and the communities the railroad serves, visiting the Pacific Northwest for the first time since its return to service.

The Big Boy will be on display in four cities:

July 6, 2022: Sparks, Nevada
July 8-9, 2022: Roseville, California
July 15-16, 2022: Portland, Oregon
July 21-22, 2022: Boise, Idaho

Display days include locomotive viewing, access to the "Experience the Union Pacific Rail Car," a multi-media walk-through exhibition that provides a glimpse at the past while telling the story of modern-day railroading, and live Q&A with the Steam Crew.

Big Boy No. 4014 will leave the Steam Shop in Cheyenne, Wyoming, June 26, making brief whistle-stops in dozens of communities in Wyoming, Nevada, California, Oregon, Idaho and Utah. Further details for these stops will be released to the Steam Club in May.
<unquote>

• Union Pacific 4014, 4-8-8-4 (ALCO Schenectady 72791 / 1941), "Big Boy," now oil-fired

Enthusiasts interested to be kept informed regarding UP 4014's possible 2022 tour are encouraged to join Union Pacific's "Steam Club:" https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/club/index.htm

Wow, you just made my day! I just emailed my boss asking for that Friday off.

Time for a repeat of the famous AFT ferry move with SP 4449 and UP 844? (ducks for cover).

Great news for those on the West Coast.

I know it's a pipe dream but I'm hoping one year they work out some kind of a deal and take it to the east coast.

The Pandemic caused this trip to be cancelled for 2020, and I figured they'd make it happen either this year or next as they'd already done the research for getting the Big Boy there. I was really hoping they'd take 4014 north of Portland. But as they never took 3985 north of there the final time they ran out her there, I wasn't surprised to see Portland was as far as 4014 (no idea if 844 comes along) will go.
Clearly it's going to be an utter zoo when 4014 takes to the high iron, especially along I-84 when the train heads back east along the Columbia.
I can't speak for anyone else, but I know I'm not going to get great photos as there'll be a mob anywhere I go, but I just want to be able to say I've watched a 4000 go past under steam. For me, it's that simple, and anything in addition to that would be gravy.

The stop at Portland, Oregon must be planned, there is no way in hell that UP would potentially pass up the ability to pose 4014 next to not only 4449, but 700 and 197 alongside whatever else the ORHF has.

Perhaps this could be news for the future that 4449 (and, in time, 700 and 197) may once again travel on live rail? Or maybe its just a quick photo shoot between two legends, only time will tell once 4014 gets out there on the high iron. But, never hurts to ponder about what UP has up their sleeves. Food for thought.

I also think the final stop at Boise, Idaho might be another good photo opportunity. At Boise lies a former UP Mikado No. 2295, one of my personal favorite non-operating UP Steamers. I imagine 2295 has its mini-fame in the short film "Last of the Giants" and posing next to 4014 will allow for some good 1950s era style recreation shots.

Boise is no longer served by Union Pacific -- the line there is Watco now, if I'm remembering correctly.

For those interested. Big Boy engineer, Ed Dickens did his annual presentation on the Big Boy including a question and answer session in Denver recently. He showed a photo of scale build up on the interior of the boiler of the #844 which was hard to believe. Video can be found here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dV2k2y4R8c
The photo of the scale build up is at 42.23

Pocatello is on the route, and has UP Mikado 2005, Oregon Short Line wooden caboose 5784, and Centennial DDA40X 6901 all lines up in a park within sight of the UP main. Unfortunately, 1) all three pieces need a repaint and 2) a drone or chainsaw work might be the only way to get a decent shot of any of them and 4014 in the same picture. UP has stopped 844 in town in the past, but nowhere near the site in question.

Last September--note the UP yard in the background.

Just saw on Twitter that UP is postponing this. Reason given is to concentrate on reducing the supply chain problems

Railfan and Railroad article: https://railfan.com/union-pacific-postp ... mmer-tour/

Can you be utterly shocked yet not surprised one bit, both at the same time?
That's my reaction upon seeing this.
I'll never be able to go see 4014 running anywhere else (my wife and I both have elderly parents with medical issues, and that means we don't go anywhere that isn't family related anymore), so it coming here is the only way I'll get to see a UP 4000 in steam...

Sounds like the UP is getting a little antsy about the upcoming STB hearings.

I've been seeing a lot of posts on business Twitter about how there are supposedly nearly 500 ships queued up at Shanghai and Ningbo because of Shanghai's lockdown. Here's one such post: https://twitter.com/man_integrated/status/1516036853727744002

I presume the risk to UP is that those ships currently waiting outside of Shanghai will become ships waiting to unload at US west coast ports during the same weeks that 4014 was scheduled to be touring the west coast.

And that backlog of containers being delayed at all when they're normally #1 priority will raise questions, especially if they're delayed by a train whose only value on that given day is public relations.

Anyone wanting to operate an excursion over Class 1 rails in the coming year(s) may want to pay attention.