Train Simulator: Union Pacific Big Boy

BIG BOY! In size, no steam locomotive was ever greater, and few if any locomotives were more legendary than Union Pacific’s 4-8-8-4 behemoths. Among Train Simulator developers, few if any are more renowned -- for extraordinary realism, operational fidelity, and magnificent detail -- than Smokebox. And now comes the Smokebox Union Pacific Big Boy!

Union Pacific’s famed 4-8-8-4s were designed with a specific task at hand – being able to handle 4,400-ton trains, without helpers, over the rugged grades of the railroad’s crossing of Utah’s Wasatch Mountains. Designers of the UP, together with the American Locomotive Works (Alco) went to work and in 1940 Alco constructed a group of twenty leviathan 1.3-million-pound, 132-foot-long 4-8-8-4 articulated locomotives. During construction of the first locomotive – Union Pacific 4000 – a worker scrawled “Big Boy” in chalk on the locomotive’s smokebox door and the name, like the locomotive, became forever iconic.

During World War II, Union Pacific acquired an additional five Big Boys and in addition to working the Wasatch crossing, the railroad’s fleet of 25 Big Boys became regulars on UP’s Sherman Hill in Wyoming. The last of the 4-8-8-4s remained on the UP roster through the late 1950s and befitting the type’s fame, no less than eight were preserved. In 2019, as part of the 150th anniversary celebration of the American transcontinental railroad, Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 was returned to service as a member of UP’s Heritage Fleet.

Developer Smokebox is highly respected for its authentic re-creations of steam locomotives – including its AT&N 2-8-0 Consolidation and superb Union Pacific FEF-3 4-8-4. And now, the Smokebox Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 takes Smokebox’s artistry and realism to even greater levels! In addition to an exacting replication of the Big Boy’s operating controls, characteristics, sounds, and visual details, the Smokebox 4-8-8-4 features innovative features including an optional auto-fireman and auto-engineer, making the locomotive accessible to all users. And the Big Boy also features a range of customization details, a selection of era-authentic freight rolling stock, and realistic scenarios on the Train Simulator Union Pacific Wasatch Grade: Ogden - Evanston Route (route available separately).

The ultimate experience of taking the throttle of American steam – big steam – awaits you with the magnificent and extraordinary Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy as created by Smokebox and now available for Train Simulator!

Key Features

• Ultra-realistic Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 “Big Boy” steam locomotive
• Complete and authentic operating controls and characteristics
• Optional configurations for all levels of difficulty from manual operations to auto-fireman and auto-engineer assists, the locomotive is also compatible with Simple Controls
• Three locomotive livery variations
• A variety of customizable locomotive details
• Actual 4-8-8-4 locomotive sounds
• Late-1940s era-authentic freight rolling stock in multiple liveries and with a variety of loads; equipment includes boxcars, refrigerator cars, flat cars, hopper, tank car, and Union Pacific CA-4 steel caboose in brown and yellow liveries
• Four career scenarios featuring the Union Pacific Big Boy on the Train Simulator Union Pacific Wasatch Grade: Ogden - Evanston Route
• Quick Drive compatible