The historic Big Boy No. 4014, the world’s largest operating steam locomotive, is rolling through western Pennsylvania on Saturday, ending with a stop in Leetsdale. 

Called the “Elvis Presley” of steam locomotives, the legendary Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014 has been crossing the country to celebrate America’s 250th birthday. It celebrated the Fourth of July in Philadelphia, and now it’s coming back through the Pittsburgh area before making its way back home west.

Where will Big Boy stop in Western Pennsylvania? 

Big Boy will stop in Leetsdale on Saturday at 6:15 p.m. Before then, it will roll through multiple other communities. 

According to both Union Pacific and train experts KDKA consulted with, the tentative Saturday, July 11, schedule is as follows:

• 9 a.m. – Leaves Altoona
• 9:30 a.m.-10 a.m. – Stop at Horseshoe Curve National Historic Site
• 10:45 a.m.-11:15 a.m. – Stop in Cresson, Pennsylvania
• About 1:30 p.m. – Roll through Derry, Pennsylvania
• About 1:35 p.m. – Roll through Bradenville, Pennsylvania
• About 1:45 p.m. – Roll through Latrobe, Pennsylvania
• About 2:15 p.m. – Roll through Greensburg, Pennsylvania
• About 2:35 p.m. – Roll through Jeannette, Pennsylvania
• Time TBD – Roll through South Side Flats/Station Square along the Monongahela River. Big Boy will cross the Ohio River on the bridge over Brunot Island.
• 6:15 p.m.-6:45 p.m. – Stop in Leetsdale, Pennsylvania. From the Borough of Leetsdale: the viewing location for Big Boy will be at Ferry Street Railroad Crossing near the Subway.

Other times and locations for roll-throughs have not been determined yet. 

And while Union Pacific wants everyone to come out and see the Big Boy, they want everyone to be safe. They’re reminding people to stay 25 feet off the tracks and never cross or put anything on the tracks, especially when the Big Boy is rolling through.

What is Big Boy No. 4014?

Built in 1941 to haul massive military and freight loads over the Wasatch Mountains during World War II, the Big Boy was one of just 25 locomotives ever built.

“It is just an astounding piece of machinery,” Ian Luconti from Friendship, Pennsylvania, said while seeing Big Boy in Altoona. “I don’t know how somebody could wake up one day and say, ‘I’m going to build a steam engine.’ I just wanted to come and see it. It’s historic, there’s only a couple of them in the world that I know of.”

Today, only eight others survive on display across the country. But after a years-long restoration led by engineer Ed Dickens and his crew, Big Boy No. 4014 is the only one still under steam and operating on America’s rails.

“It brings people together,” Dickens said. “It brings communities together, it brings everyone together, and it’s brought our companies together in a way that is necessary to do this and it is a lot to pull off.”

And just how big is the Big Boy? It carries about 25,000 gallons of water, weighs roughly 1.2 million pounds, and stretches 133 feet from end to end — nearly 60 feet longer than a typical diesel locomotive, making it the largest operating steam locomotive in the world.

As part of America’s 250th anniversary, Big Boy No. 4014 has been on a coast-to-coast tour, crossing the Mississippi River and into the Ohio Valley for the first time since it was built in New York in 1941. Thousands of people gathered to watch it in Erie County when it came to Pennsylvania for the first time. 

“I think I can speak for all of us: it’s a trip of a lifetime,” said Dickens. “And we are people that are accustomed to seeing large crowds turning out for the Big Boy. The crowds turning out for this locomotive are in the millions. And it’s just mile after mile of this heartwarming emotion that is just beautiful to see.”

Richard John Franklin, 65, had reportedly visited the district office to seek assistance with paying outstanding taxes.

While being helped by a staff member, he began using antisemitic slurs directed at Governor Shapiro and threatened to commit arson at the governor’s mansion, police stated.

After making these threats, state troopers from the Political Violence Threat Unit met with Franklin at his home later that day, where he provided inconsistent accounts of the incident at the district office, CBS News reported.

According to the police report, Franklin admitted to using an antisemitic slur and claimed that his statements about burning the governor’s mansion were ‘sympathetic’ and ‘positive in nature’ because the Governor and his family had previously survived an arson attack.

Franklin was taken into custody and charged with terrorist threats, ethnic intimidation, harassment, and disorderly conduct.

He was taken to Pennsylvania’s Delaware County Prison after he was unable to post $100,000 bail, and scheduled for a preliminary hearing next week, according to CBS News.

Shapiro and his family had previously survived an arson attack last year while celebrating Passover.

Their residence was set on fire overnight, prompting the family’s evacuation.

This previous attack was reportedly motivated by Shapiro’s perceived stance on Palestine.

The attacker, Cody Balmer, called 911 shortly after the incident occurred early on a Sunday morning, identifying himself and telling the operators that Shapiro needed to know he “will not take part in his plans for what he wants to do to the Palestinian people,” according to the police search warrant.

Reuters and the Jerusalem Post Staff contributed to this report.

Will the York State Fair have to change its name?

State Rep. Catherine Wallen of the 193rd House District, which stretches from Shippensburg to New Oxford, plans to introduce legislation that would prohibit fairs from using the title “state fair” in their name or advertising.

She noted that “a wave of a few fairs” recently has started using the word “state” in their name. There isn’t a statute that allows the use of a “state fair” title in Pennsylvania.

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“This legislation would change that to keep all fairs across the state on the same level and not allude that they are recognized as the Official State fair of Pennsylvania,” Wallen wrote. “The only event that truly has claim to that title is the Pennsylvania Farm Show that is held annually in Harrisburg.”

The annual agricultural fair in York County, formerly known as the York Fair, added the word “state” to its name in 2020. The event, which was set to move to July that year, had to be canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.