Big Boy locomotive draws massive crowds across Western Pennsylvania

Thousands of people came out to see the world’s largest steam locomotive as it chugged through the Pittsburgh area on Saturday.

Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 has been on a nationwide tour in celebration of America’s 250th anniversary for months now. It departed from Altoona at 9 a.m Saturday and wound its way through Western Pennsylvania.

Crowds flocked to the tracks to see the locomotive move through and cheer it on. So much so that in Derry, local fire crews had to do crowd control.

“It’s a very big deal. Got a lot of people coming in. Very big showing,” Joshua Robel said.

Crowds continued in Greensburg, Jeannette, Homestead, Pittsburgh and other communities.

But it was especially a sight in Leetsdale, which was Big Boy’s only public stop in the area. Some spectators arrived in the morning to get a good seat.

Some even drove hours to see the train.

“This is the closest it’s going to be to us, so I was like ‘I got to do it,” said Tony Venzin from Logan, OH. “It’s a moment in history, and we really wanted to be a part of it.”

One man we spoke to used to work on the railroad, but he said he’s never seen anything like the Big Boy.

“That’s a big engine. I mean, once you see it, it’s like - you’re amazed because what you see today is like a miniature thing to a big thing,” Edward Jones said.

Leetsdale officials were excited to welcome the crowds.

“To see the big boy in full operation, rolling through our small and mighty town, is truly a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Re. Valerie Gaydos said. “I was born in Leetsdale, so this really, really makes a special day for me.”

The train stopped for around half an hour before moving on to its final stop of the night in Conway. Big Boy will move into Ohio on Sunday as it heads back out west.

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