SCRANTON, LACKAWANNA CO. (WOLF) \u2014 In less than a week, the Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 will be in Scranton, and the staff at Steamtown is getting ready for the crowd.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will be lines of people waiting to see, not just the 4014, but two big boys next to each other,” said Superintendent Jeremy Komasz. “Hasn\u2019t happened, as best we can tell, since the 1950s. So, it\u2019s going to be a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Big Boy will be in Scranton for 17 days. June 15th and 16th will be public display days, where visitors can get an up close look at the locomotives and talk to the operators. June 17th to the 30th are viewing days, where crowds will be able to see a further look of the trains.<\/p>\n
They switched to online timed tickets because of the high demand. The National Park Service is expecting over 30,000 people for the first two days alone, a crowd larger than the site\u2019s opening 30 years ago.<\/p>\n
Komasz continued, saying, \u201cSteamtown\u2019s annual attendance is 60,000 people, and we believe that we will do more than 60,000 people, maybe creeping up on a hundred thousand people, during the entire time that the Union Pacific Big Boy number 4014 is here at the park.\u201d<\/p>\n
They\u2019ve changed everything around the park from staffing to parking to accommodate the crowd.<\/p>\n
If you plan to see the historic meeting of two Big Boys, prepare for traffic or make parking arrangements in advance, bring sunscreen and dress appropriately for standing in lines during the day, and respect the time on your ticket so everyone gets a chance to see the locomotive mechanical marvels together.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a massive deal for specifically the Steamtown staff, but everybody in the National Park Service,” said Komasz. “Like, they understand that the Big Boy 4014, and our Big Boy, the 4012, are representative of what is so great about this nation, right? Railroads built this country. And in the year that we\u2019re celebrating the 250th anniversary of the founding of this country, the declaration of Independence, what a great way to show that by showing the machinery that helped build the nation.\u201d<\/p>\n