ROCHELLE — Over 60,000 people attended an event in Rochelle at the Global III intermodal facility on Sunday that featured The Union Pacific Railroad’s Big Boy No. 4014 train engine, City Director of Community Engagement Jenny Thompson said. 

Sunday saw long traffic lines and local restaurants and shops full as visitors came to town for Big Boy No. 4014. The famous train engine drew rail fans to The Hub City for the entire weekend, which also featured a whistle stop at the city’s Railfan Park on Monday morning. The UP also hosted a viewing of the engine for its employees on Saturday. 

“We were excited and shocked to see that many people descend on our little town,” Thompson said. “It was great for our local businesses. I spent the whole weekend at Railfan Park and it was awesome to talk with all the visitors. There were people from all over the United States, along with the United Kingdom and Australia. I asked a few of the foreign visitors if they came here just to see the train, and they said that they had. The UP told us their expectation was 20,000-30,000 visitors. So we saw double that number.” 

The Big Boy No. 4014 train engine made an appearance for an hour in The Hub City at Railfan Park back in July 2019 and drew large crowds. Since 2019, the city and Railfan Park staff have fielded questions from trainspotters on when Big Boy 4014 would be returning to Rochelle. The UP sets the schedule for the train’s appearances, and the city got the news of its return earlier this year when its fall schedule was released.

“We’re grateful that the UP picked Rochelle,” Thompson said. “Not every community is lucky enough to be able to host something like that that attracts so many people. We were fortunate to know what to expect this year at Railfan Park for safety and crowd control. The UP event had long lines and there was traffic, but that much attendance is hard to prepare for.”

Thompson said despite only hosting a short whistle stop, Railfan Park saw thousands of visitors over the weekend and 300-400 maps the city produced for the weekend were given out. The railroad park sold out of all of all the Big Boy merchandise it had.

The city-owned Railfan Park houses the unique diamond where the UP and BNSF railroads intersect. In recent years the city has utilized hotel motel tax dollars to completely rehabilitate its gift shop exterior and put in new bathrooms, a new deck and a handicap-accessible ramp and new retail doors on the building. Future plans for the facility are in the works as well. 

“Many years ago when Ken Wise had the idea to put Railfan Park where it is, that was amazing foresight into what we could attract here,” Thompson said. “I don’t think this weekend would have happened if we didn’t have Railfan Park. We have people from all over the world attend that park all year long. This past weekend it just happened to be all on the same days. It’s unique for the city to have it. It keeps our hotels full and brings patrons to our restaurants and businesses.” 

The Big Boy 4014 weekend was “all hands on deck” for city staff, first responders, local business owners and volunteers, Thompson said. Months of planning went into the event between the city, its police and fire departments, the UP, and the Rochelle Chamber of Commerce.

“We had extra staffing for our first responders and firefighter/paramedics and police officers on site at the event at Global III,” Thompson said. “We borrowed equipment for the event like a mobile command post and vehicle and everyone was so gracious to help us meet our needs. We had Ogle-Lee Fire Protection District firefighter/paramedics for extra staffing. We had city hall staff working at Railfan Park. People took on extra roles and really helped out.”

Thompson said hard numbers on the economic impact of the weekend won’t be seen until the coming months after the city receives its hotel/motel and sales tax figures. She said she has heard from business owners that were impressed with the weekend. 

“I heard this morning that Flight Deck Bar & Grill was thrilled at the amount of business they saw,” Thompson said. “I think our businesses did well and were happy to see that amount of customers. Whether or when it comes back in the future is all up the UP. We’d welcome another visit from the Big Boy or another famous engine like it. We have a large contingent of rail fans in the Midwest and it’d be great to see more of what the weekend was in the future.”