Published March 1, 2025 | Updated May 16, 2026

The City of Omaha and Union Pacific Railroad grew up together. The city was founded in 1854, and the railroad followed in 1862, laying its first rails in Omaha shortly after. It was only fitting then that U.P. donated two of its biggest locomotives for display in a new park named after its former CEO John Kenefick.

Opening in 1988, Kenefick Park at 6th Street and Abbott Drive was located next to U.P.’s shops, ensuring that visitors arriving at Eppley Airfield and headed downtown would see the two massive locomotives:

• Big Boy, the world’s heaviest, longest, and highest horsepower steam locomotive ever built. Created during World War II, it weighs 1.2 million pounds and is 132 feet long.
• Centennial, the largest diesel locomotive ever built. Introduced for the railroad’s 1969 centennial celebration, it weighs 540,000 pounds and is 98 feet long.

The park’s namesake was born in New York before attending Princeton University and serving in the Navy during World War II. After arriving in Omaha in 1947, he was hired by U.P. as a draftsman. Kenefick left that role to become a brakeman to gain a better understanding of how the railroad operated. He moved up the ranks until becoming its CEO in 1970 before retiring in 1986.

The site was vacated in 2002 after the city started its latest attempt to return to the river. At that time, the locomotives were moved to Union Station (present day Durham Museum). That cleared the way for the construction of the CenturyLink Center (present day CHI Health Center) followed by the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge, National Park Service, Gallup, Miller’s Landing, and Rick’s Boatyard Cafe. U.P. continued to maintain its presence in the area of 10th and Cuming Streets when it installed a new monument consisting of a series of glass panels with images of the trains.

After a long search for suitable sites, U.P. announced the new location for the park in 2004. Located atop a hill on the southwest corner of Lauritzen Gardens, the goal was to show travelers how the city and the railroad have grown together. This time U.P. hired Infinite Scale Design Group, the designers behind the award-winning look of the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. U.P. paid the entire cost of the new park, which opened in 2005.

Moving Big Boy to its new location was quite a feat. It required the use of a special wheeled cradle. Once loaded, the locomotive was slowly moved along the streets of Omaha until it was perched upon the hill that overlooked the interstate. It is the only Big Boy known to have traveled by highway rather than rail.

Kenefick Park is accessed from the Lauritzen Gardens parking lot. On the way up, you encounter a stone “canyon” with historical photos, interpretive signs, and photographs. They display the history of U.P. from its origins in Council Bluffs to the western terminus in Sacramento. Once you reach the top, you have the opportunity to get up close and personal. You can walk the entire length of the trains and even see inside the cab of Big Boy.

For more than two decades, Big Boy and Centennial have remained in that spot, greeting the traffic along Interstate 80 below as it enters Omaha from the east. It is a reminder that the city and the railroad continue to grow together.

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More pictures

• Omaha World-Herald archives
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenefick_Park
• Big-Boy-On-the-Road-to-Restoration.pdf