When we first moved to Cheyenne, we quickly learned its origin story and the significance of Union Pacific (UP) Railroad.

You can’t drive downtown without encountering the giant UP control tower overseeing the dozens of train tracks running straight through the city. For that matter, you can’t miss the smoke and sounds of the 100+ trains that travel through downtown each day (yep, you read that right. One hundred trains a DAY).

Brian signed me up for the Union Pacific Steam Club newsletter so we could stay apprised of all the train-related events taking place in and around Cheyenne throughout the year. This led to my wandering downtown last fall to watch the Union Pacific Heritage Fleet head for its new home, and it enabled Brian to purchase advance tickets for us to attend the annual Cheyenne Depot Days this spring.

Cheyenne Depot Days

Cheyenne Depot Days is an annual, multi-day event that grants participants access to the UP machine shop, which is home to the Big Boy 4014, as well as the Heritage Collection in the roundhouse. These sites are normally completely off limits to the public, so we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to visit them!

The Union Pacific roundhouse, turntable, and machine shop are historically significant due to their unique engineering attributes designed for a single function – the maintenance and storage of steam locomotives. The structures are also significant due to their relationship to the continued development of the first transcontinental railroad and its effect on the formation and growth of Cheyenne and the Territory and State of Wyoming.

https://www.cheyenne.org/listing/union-pacific-roundhouse-turntable-and-machine-shop/937/

We hopped on a shuttle at the Cheyenne Depot Museum (entrance also included in our ticket price – we really enjoyed touring the museum after visiting the sites!) and rode out to our first stop, the machine shop.

The machine shop was constructed in 1919 and continues to be used for the maintenance and repair of different trains. They had volunteers and employees stationed throughout to answer questions about the trains, projects underway, etc.

A highlight was seeing the UP Big Boy No. 4014, the world’s largest steam locomotive still in operation and one of 25 Big Boys commissioned by UP in the 1940s.

It was returned to service in 2019 and sets off on a tour – operating fully under its own power – to Omaha and back with whistle-stops along the way from June 7 through July 3, 2023.

After we finished up in the machine shop, we walked over to the roundhouse, which was constructed in 1931. According to UP, the 126-foot diameter continuous span turntable and control house were constructed in 1941 and considered an integral component of the roundhouse facility.

The roundhouse used to be much larger but was scaled back over time. The present configuration is still quite large and allows for indoor storage of Union Pacific’s Heritage Collection.

Brian loved the iconic look of this bright yellow fleet, and we both enjoyed talking to some of the older volunteers about the presidents and other VIPs who traveled on these trains when they were in full service.

Although we couldn’t wander around totally freely, we were able to view a number of the cars, cabooses, and other bric-a-brac around the railyard as we moved back and forth between the machine shop and roundhouse and as we waited on the shuttle to take us back to the depot.

The Cheyenne sun can be brutal so I was surprised at how well some of the cars were holding up to the elements. I don’t know if they intend to work on all of these at some point, but I’d personally love to see some of the colorful cabooses back in action.

I’m so glad we were able to attend our first Depot Days and continue learning more about railroad history both in Cheyenne and across the country.

Even if you won’t be in town for the annual weekend festivities, I’d still highly recommend checking out the iconic depot and museum during your next visit!