SCRANTON, Pa. – It’s the moment train enthusiasts have all been waiting for: the Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 is going all speed ahead to parts of our area including Berks and Montgomery counties.<\/p>\n
69 News Reporter Sydney Kay stopped by Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton where the train departed for Jim Thorpe.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll hear it and you can\u2019t miss it, the Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 is on the East Coast and it\u2019s moving through our region.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely gigantic,\u201d said Wesley Billou, from Massachusetts.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s enormous. It\u2019s immense. It\u2019s 132 feet long and it weighs a million pounds. It\u2019s just incredible to see something like that actually ride on the rails,\u201d said Tom Wissmann, visiting from New York.<\/p>\n
A crowd gathered in the sweltering heat to see the iconic steam locomotive depart the Steamtown National Historic Site for Jim Thorpe Wednesday morning.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t miss stuff like this, this is historical,\u201d said Nick Novack, from New Jersey.<\/p>\n
The train has been parked in Scranton for the last two and a half weeks, drawing in crowds to see it alongside its sister engine.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver 110,000 people have come to Steamtown to see the Big Boy reunion. It\u2019s just something that I don\u2019t think anybody here couldn’t even really put into perspective,\u201d said Jeremy Komasz, the superintendent of Steamtown National Historic Site.<\/p>\n
Being the only operational Big Boy, it was rebuilt and put back on the tracks to commemorate America 250.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started this on April 10th in Sacramento, California. We\u2019ve traveled 4,500 miles to get to Steamtown,\u201d said Maureen Halbur, the general director of Union Pacific.<\/p>\n
Chugging along to parts of Berks and Montgomery Counties Thursday, this train differs from high-tech engines made now-a-days.<\/p>\n
\u201cLots of labor, lots of fuel, lots of water, but that\u2019s the technology that they had back in the 1940s, the 1950s before these were replaced,\u201d said Ed Dickens, the senior manager of heritage operations at Union Pacific.<\/p>\n
The whistle and steam blowing in its path, an iconic spectacle.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s bringing back that reminder of just the strength of our nation, the strength of the American railroad, and the strength of the Union Pacific Big Boy,\u201d Dickens added.<\/p>\n
The train will be in Jim Thorpe until 9 a.m. Thursday, where it will then head to Reading and Northern Outer Station from 1:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. and then head to Pottstown from 3:30 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.<\/p>\n
As it makes stops through Hamburg, Leesport, and Muhlenberg Township, Union Pacific officials want to remind those trying to see Big Boy to remain 25 feet from the tracks, be mindful of those around, and to stay hydrated.<\/p>\n