DALLAS (AP) — A massive steam locomotive dubbed “Big Boy” began a slow journey Sunday to its new home about 30 miles north of Dallas.
Denise Stokes, a spokeswoman for the city of Frisco, says the former Union Pacific Railroad locomotive left Fair Park shortly before 11 a.m. Sunday. Big Boy, weighing 1.2 million pounds, was expected to arrive late Sunday afternoon.
The historic engine was being pulled by another locomotive toward the site of the relocated Museum of the American Railroad in Frisco, Stokes said. It was to travel 55 miles of rail at about 10 mph, Stokes said.
The Dallas, Garland & Northeastern Railroad, which operates a combination of owned and leased rail lines, was moving Big Boy.
No date has been set for the opening of the larger, relocated museum, according to Stokes. The museum, formerly on the grounds of the State Fair of Texas and featuring outdoor exhibits, closed in November 2011.
Frisco previously committed about $1 million toward the cost of moving the locomotive, expected to be one of the highlights of the new museum.