About this site

What this is

Big Boy 4014 Tour is a non-commercial, open-source fan project built for the 250th-Anniversary tour. It pulls schedule data from Union Pacific’s public tour page, validates it, and presents it through a lightweight web app and an iOS app. Both clients read the same schedule.json file, so what you see here matches what the iOS app shows.

Not affiliated

This project is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by Union Pacific Railroad Company. “Big Boy”, “Union Pacific”, the Union Pacific shield, and related marks are trademarks of Union Pacific Railroad Company; their use here is purely descriptive (nominative fair use) for the purpose of identifying the locomotive and tour this app covers.

Schedule data is sourced fromup.com/about-us/history/steam/scheduleand is reproduced as factual information only — dates, times, and public locations. We do not reproduce Union Pacific’s prose, photographs, or marketing materials. If anything in this app appears to misrepresent that relationship, please emailrevise.oxbows0v@icloud.com.

How it works

• Web: a static Astro site, deployed to GitHub Pages.
• iOS: a native SwiftUI app (iOS 17+) that bundles the latest schedule at build time and refetches the live copy on launch. App Store name: “Big Boy 4014 Tour.”
• Schedule pipeline: a daily GitHub Actions cron job fetches the UP schedule page, parses it into schedule.json, validates against a JSON Schema, and commits the result. If the parser ever breaks, the workflow opens an issue and we fall back to hand-edited data.
• Tracker: shows Big Boy 4014’s last reported position from Union Pacific’s public tracker as a live dot (a GitHub Actions job relays it to the site every ~15 minutes), and falls back to the scheduled position when the feed is quiet.

What’s new

Recent changes to the site, current version 2026.07.

1. Tue, Jul 7, 2026v2026.07

   • New Route page: the whole 2026 tour on one map — every published stop connected in schedule order, with a state-by-state breakdown underneath.
   • New FAQ page with quick answers to the most-asked questions — where 4014 is right now, whether you need tickets, and where the tour goes next.
   • New printable timetable: every published stop in one print-ready table — use your browser’s Print dialog for a paper copy or a PDF.
   • Richer stop pages across the tour: more cities now carry a “Why this stop matters” history note and what-to-expect guidance — including honest expectations for whistle-stops and no-public-access overnight stops.
   • The homepage “at a glance” tiles (today’s scheduled position, next stop) now update themselves from the latest schedule when you visit, rather than waiting for a site redeploy.

2. Mon, Jun 15, 2026v2026.06

   • Live tracker: the Tracker page now shows Big Boy 4014’s last reported position from Union Pacific as a live dot on the map, with the scheduled position as a fallback when the feed is quiet.
   • Richer stop pages: major display and ticketed stops now include what to expect, ticket details and where to buy, links back to official sources, and more history.
   • Whole stop tiles on the Schedule page are now clickable, not just the station name.
   • Added this “What’s new” section.

3. Wed, Jun 10, 2026

   • Added support for multi-day stops — like the Fourth of July weekend in Philadelphia and the two-week display at Steamtown — with clearer date ranges throughout.

4. Tue, May 5, 2026

   • Moved to a custom domain, 4014coasttocoast.com, served over HTTPS.

5. Sun, May 3, 2026

   • First public release: the full tour schedule, an interactive map, and a companion iOS app.

Source & license

Source code is MIT-licensed. The repository is private; for access or to report an issue, email revise.oxbows0v@icloud.com. The MIT license covers code only and does not grant any rights in third-party trademarks.

Contact

Bugs, takedown requests, or schedule corrections: emailrevise.oxbows0v@icloud.com. That’s the most reliable path; everything else is best-effort.