I promised an update on UP’s Big Boy, and here it is.
It’s in Philly today at the Navy yard from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. There will be additional viewing hours on July 5.
From there:
July 6–7, 2026 — Southeast PA
July 6 (Mon): Pass-through — Philadelphia (restricted access).
July 7 (Tue):
Pass-through — King of Prussia, PA (9:00 AM).
Lebanon, PA — Whistle-stop at 12:30 PM.
July 8–9, 2026 — Central PA
July 8 (Wed):
Pass-through — Enola, PA (9:00 AM).
Lewistown, PA — Whistle-stop at 12:45 PM.
Altoona, PA — Whistle-stop at 5:15 PM (Railroaders Memorial Museum).
July 9 (Thu):
Altoona, PA — Public Display (8:00 AM; shuttle access).
July 11–12, 2026 — Horseshoe Curve & Western PA / Ohio
July 11 (Sat):
July 12 (Sun):
Pass-through — Conway, PA (9:00 AM).
Pass-through — Struthers, OH (11:30 AM).
July 13–16, 2026 — Ohio & Indiana
July 13 (Mon):
Pass-through — Conneaut, OH (9:00 AM). No live cams, but keep an eye on the Rail Museum at Northeast, PA about 7am, just up the line. Here’s the west view from the same location.
Rocky River, OH — Whistle-stop (1:00 PM).
Fostoria, OH — Overnight layover (restricted). Catch it online here and here.(two different views, the second will be better)
July 14 (Tue):
Fostoria, OH — Public Display (9:00 AM). Catch it online here and here.(two different views, the second will be better). Not sure where the layover will be, but I’m betting it’s near the Rail Park inside the Triangle. That’s where all the other steam excursions in recent years have done their layovers.
July 15 (Wed):
July 16 (Thu):
Pass-through — Fort Wayne, IN (9:00 AM).
Knox, IN — Whistle-stop (1:30 PM).
July 17–18, 2026 — Illinois
July 17 (Fri):
Pass-through — South Holland, IL (9:00 AM).
July 18 (Sat):
Pass-through — Bloomington, IL (8:15 AM).
Pass-through — Springfield, IL (10:45 AM).
OK, you’re up to date for a while.
Now, a few items that came up since my last story on Big Boy.
You will recall that I managed to catch the pass through at Dalton, New York. Apparently there was a musician or three who were there also. I don’t know who this is, (I’m guessing they’re Buffalo natives), but the lyrics show a serious familiarity with the area. I will admit being impressed with the production on this recording. Far more than you'd expect from a garage band. The singer also mentions routes 408 and 70, which are the ways you would follow if you were chasing the train.
And the Sierra Inn he mentions? I’m guessing he’s talking about the Sierra Inn at Swain, N.Y., near the ski area, I discovered this quite by accident. One of my crawlers found it during an overnight sweep.From there, Big Boy went to Binghamton, N.Y. then next day, then to Steamtown National Park at Scranton Pa., and Andy Muller's Reading Blue Mountain and Northern. I think I've already posted some vid on Big Boy running along side Andy's big Reading T1 type.
If you read my earlier stories, I told you Big Boy would be drawing rock star crowds. That was an easy prediction. Steamtown normally draws around 60,000 people annually. When 4014 showed up, they drew half that in one weekend.
The draw, of course, was the prospect of seeing 4014 and the Museum’s static display of 4012 side by side. Certainly a once in a lifetime opportunity. I swear, if we were still back in the days of film, Kodak stock would be up on an order of scale from this event alone.
`From there, BigBoy went to Reading. I gather that as a result of the visit and the heat from the last few days, the local fire department declared a mass casualty event. No, seriously. Heat stroke cases, mostly. They reported dealing with around 100 folks directly, and more indirectly, when they called in a couple of tanker trucks to hose down the attendees to cool them off. Makes me think of the crew in that even hotter cab.
As I say, 4014 is in Philly, now. Here, we see the train backing into the spot it'll be for a couple days.
That’s all I have to this point. More as I find. Remember, if you go, bring water and an umbrella. Have a great holiday.
Related: Big Boy Is Coming, Part 3.
