'Our Very Own Polar Express': Union Pacific 'Big Boy' Plows Through Snowy Kansas

One of the world’s largest steam engines passed through snow-covered central Kansas on November 22, creating a festive Polar Express moment for onlookers.

The Union Pacific Engine 4014 “Big Boy” stopped in Kansas as part of a commemorative tour for the 150th anniversary of the transcontinental railroad, the track finished in 1869 that connected the United States from east to west.

This video, filmed by an employee with internet provider Nex-Tech, shows the train driving out of snowy Hays, Kansas, and leaving a trail of steam in its wake.

“We got our very own ‘Polar Express’ this morning when Union Pacific Museum’s steam-powered “Big Boy” rolled through Hays while the snow was falling," Nex-Tech said on Facebook, referencing the Chris Van Allsburg book and subsequent animated movie about a boy’s train ride to the North Pole at Christmas.

The steam engine was scheduled to make stops in several more Kansas cities, as well as Colorado and Wyoming. Credit: Nex-Tech via Storyful