People
April 13, 2026
U.S. Labor Secretary Chavez-DeRemer Joins Union Pacific’s 250th Celebration for Firsthand Look at Big Boy No. 4014
Union Pacific CEO Jim Vena hosted the Labor Secretary for a tour during Big Boy’s two-day stop in Roseville, California
U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer climbed into the cab of Union Pacific’s famed Big Boy No. 4014 on April 11 as part of a tour led by CEO Jim Vena in Roseville, California. The visit occurred during the legendary locomotive’s first public display on its historic coast-to-coast tour in celebration of America’s 250th birthday.
Chavez-DeRemer also toured Union Pacific’s J.R. Davis Yard in Roseville, a large classification yard that is one of the busiest rail terminals on the West Coast and a critical hub for Northern California rail traffic.
“We were honored to host Secretary Chavez‑DeRemer as we celebrate America’s birthday with Big Boy’s historic coast‑to‑coast journey from California to New York,” Vena said. “This tour highlights the vital role railroads have played in building our nation – driving economic growth, fostering development, and connecting communities and businesses to global markets.”
An estimated 61,000 people came to Union Pacific’s two-day display event in Roseville, one of eight large public displays planned this year during Big Boy’s coast-to-coast tour.
“Union Pacific played a pivotal role in the history of our country as one of the two companies that constructed the first transcontinental railroad,” Chavez-DeRemer said. “We are excited they have chosen to honor America’s 250th birthday with a coast‑to‑coast tour that showcases their integral role in building an impressive freight rail network.”
On April 10, Union Pacific’s Big Boy locomotive officially launched its 2026 coast-to-coast tour from downtown Sacramento near historic Milepost 0 – the site where Central Pacific began construction on the nation’s first transcontinental railroad in 1863. Completed in 1869 at Promontory Summit, Utah, the railroad line took 20,000 people to build over six years and revolutionized trade and travel in the U.S., reducing a once-hazardous three-month journey by horse and wagon to less than a week by rail from New York to California.
Big Boy No. 4014 is the world’s largest operating steam locomotive, weighing 1.2 million pounds and 133 feet long – which is a little over half the length of a Boeing 747. It was one of 25 commissioned by Union Pacific in the early 1940s to haul large volumes of freight over the Wasatch Mountains in Utah.