Remaining Big Boy holiday tour tickets go on sale to the public Oct. 19
Union Pacific’s Big Boy holiday tour will carry ticketed riders in November, with No. 4014 hauling vintage passenger cars from Cheyenne, Wyoming, to Denver in support of Make-A-Wish.
The railroad describes the trip as Big Boy’s first-ever holiday tour. No. 4014 is also due to go on public display in the Denver area on Nov. 21. Santa Claus, Mrs. Claus and several elves will be there to hand out limited-edition gifts to children. The trip benefits the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America, and Union Pacific is adding a donation through its Community Ties Giving Program.
Museum patrons get the first chance at tickets
Patrons of the Union Pacific Railroad Museum can start buying seats on Oct. 16. Any remaining tickets will go on sale to the general public three days later, on Oct. 19.
Patron membership starts at $50 a year, according to the museum’s patron page. Benefits normally end with the calendar year, but the museum extends them through the following year for applications received after Sept. 1.
| Level | Annual amount | Benefits listed by the museum |
|---|---|---|
| Surveyor | $50 | Patron card; advance notice of museum events; one year of 15% off at the museum gift shop |
| Gandy Dancer | $100 | Surveyor benefits plus a Union Pacific calendar |
| Track Foreman | $250 | Gandy Dancer benefits plus a Union Pacific holiday ornament and recognition inside the museum |
| Chief Engineer | $500 | Track Foreman benefits plus a behind-the-scenes museum tour and VIP event invitations when events are scheduled |
| Superintendent | $1,000 | Chief Engineer benefits plus a private family archive consultation with the museum curator |
The lowest individual patron level costs $50 a year. Union Pacific says holiday tour tickets go to museum patrons from Oct. 16, three days before the general sale.
Amounts are annual, in U.S. dollars, as shown on the museum’s patron page on Sept. 18, 2026. The museum says calendars and ornaments are sent out in the fall and that patronage is tax-deductible.
Source: Union Pacific Railroad Museum patron page; Union Pacific, Sept. 17, 2026.
The Sept. 17 announcement did not give fares, seat numbers, departure times, the exact Denver-area display site or a fundraising target for Make-A-Wish.
Earlier Big Boy rides and Colorado stops
For the July 2025 excursion between Cheyenne and Denver, Union Pacific’s published schedule listed public whistle-stops only in Greeley, Colorado. The railroad said the museum would auction four cab rides on that route, with all proceeds going to the museum. During this year’s coast-to-coast tour, the museum offered tickets for a June 14 ride behind Big Boy through the Poconos in Pennsylvania. The announced tour schedule listed Colorado stops in Kit Carson, Strasburg and Greeley.
| Date | Place | Type of public access |
|---|---|---|
| July 17, 2025 | Greeley | Whistle-stop, 11:30 a.m. to noon MDT |
| July 19, 2025 | Greeley | Whistle-stop, 8:30 to 8:50 a.m. MDT |
| Sept. 30, 2025 | Greeley | Whistle-stop, 12:45 to 1:15 p.m. MDT |
| Oct. 1, 2025 | Eaton | Whistle-stop, 12:30 to 1 p.m. MDT |
| July 27, 2026 | Kit Carson; Strasburg | Whistle-stops |
| July 29, 2026 | Greeley | Whistle-stop |
| Nov. 21, 2026 | Denver area | Public display; exact site not yet announced |
The Nov. 21 Denver-area display is the only public display on this list; every earlier Colorado entry was a short whistle-stop.
Entries follow the schedules Union Pacific published before each trip; 2026 tour stops are taken from the April 28, 2026 announcement, and the November entry from the Sept. 17, 2026 announcement. Times were not listed for the 2026 whistle-stops in that announcement.
Source: Union Pacific, May 27, 2025; Union Pacific, Sept. 18, 2025; Union Pacific, April 28, 2026; Union Pacific, Sept. 17, 2026.
A holiday run after the coast-to-coast tour
The November trip follows the coast-to-coast tour that marked America’s 250th anniversary. No. 4014 was in Philadelphia for the Fourth of July and returned to Cheyenne on July 29. Union Pacific says the 14-state journey drew millions of viewers.
Delivered in 1941, No. 4014 is one of 25 Big Boys built for Union Pacific during World War II. Their job was to move freight up the steep Wasatch grade in Utah. Eight survived after the class was retired, and only No. 4014 still runs. Another preserved Big Boy stands on public display in Denver, according to Union Pacific’s profile of No. 4014, which describes it as the largest steam locomotive still operating anywhere.
Union Pacific asks spectators to keep at least 25 feet from the tracks. People should not stand on the track or ballast to take photos or videos, and should not climb onto the engine or any other rail equipment.
