Greeley, CO

What’s happening at this stop

A whistle-stop rather than a display. 4014 is scheduled to pause near the 10th Street crossing in Greeley in the early afternoon for roughly three-quarters of an hour on its final push north toward Cheyenne. There is no ticketing, no organized viewing site, and no up-close or cab access; plan on a trackside view and expect the timing to move with railroad operations.

Why this stop matters

Greeley grew up with the railroad. It began in 1870 as the Union Colony, an agricultural settlement whose founders deliberately chose land on the route of the Denver Pacific — the line that in 1870 linked Denver to the Union Pacific's transcontinental main line at Cheyenne, giving the young colony a connection to markets across the West. The Denver Pacific was absorbed by the Union Pacific in 1880.

A Big Boy stop in Greeley lands on the rails that first tied northern Colorado into the national network, a short run south of the Cheyenne shop where 4014 is maintained.