Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News
(Erie County, PA) Thousands of people gathered Tuesday to watch the world’s largest operating steam locomotive roll through Pennsylvania for the first time as part of a coast-to-coast tour celebrating America’s 250th anniversary.
The Lake Shore Railway Museum in North East, Erie County, said more than 4,250 people attended the event at its property, while another 1,000 spectators gathered near the tracks to catch a glimpse of Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014.
Often described by rail enthusiasts as the “Elvis Presley” of steam locomotives, Big Boy is making its first trip across the Mississippi River and into the Ohio Valley since it was built in Schenectady, New York, and delivered to Union Pacific Railroad in 1941.
As part of the America 250 celebration, the locomotive is traveling across the Norfolk Southern rail network. It will return to Pennsylvania for Fourth of July festivities in Philadelphia before making additional western Pennsylvania stops in Leetsdale and Conway in mid-July.
Stretching 133 feet long and weighing 1.2 million pounds, the locomotive is the only operating Big Boy in existence. Twenty-five Big Boys were commissioned to haul heavy freight during World War II, according to Union Pacific. No. 4014 was retired in 1961 after accumulating more than 1 million miles before returning to service in 2019 to mark the 150th anniversary of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. The seven remaining Big Boys are on display across the country, including one at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Scranton.
The coast-to-coast tour is scheduled to conclude at the end of July after Big Boy travels through 14 states.