Thousands of people gathered Thursday morning near the Tamaqua train station as well as up and down the Reading, Blue Mountain & Northern rail line to see a gigantic piece of American history roll by.
The Union Pacific Big Boy – the only operating steam locomotive of eight in the company’s fleet – stopped in Tamaqua as part of a coast-to-coast whistlestop tour of America to celebrate the semiquincentennial.
Following a pass by an RBMN passenger excursion train led by its 2026 diesel locomotive just minutes prior, anticipation turned to excitement and cheers as the blaring whistle of the Big Boy sounded when the 1.8 million pound behemoth got closer to the historic station in Tamaqua.
Those who had taken cover from sweltering heat under shade trees prior to its arrival quickly rose and got as close to the tracks as they were allowed to catch a glimpse of Big Boy. Many of the several thousand in Tamaqua had their phone in one hand recording its arrival and the other hand waving as it chugged closer to the station.
Big Boy stopped directly in front of the station for a quick break, giving spectators about 15 minutes to snap photos and get up close to the locomotive.
Tara Holubowski, of Whitehall, isn’t a train enthusiast like many who lined the rails on Thursday clearly were but says she’s been following Big Boy’s journey across America through Facebook posts and videos. And when she saw it was coming to Tamaqua, she knew she had to be part of its history.
She and three friends – Tonia Adams, of Schnecksville, and Janie and Wayne Hecker, of Bethlehem – who all met because they own Greater Swiss Mountain Dogs were having breakfast and decided to make the trip. They arrived at shortly after 6 a.m., more than four hours before Big Boy rolled in to Tamaqua.
“It’s like history. We’ll never see this again,” Holubowski told Coal Region Canary. “Watching those videos, I was like, I’m going to be there.”
Of the four friends, Wayne is the train fan. He remembered it was his father who bought him his first train set, a Radio Flyer, back in the 1950s, that was put around the Christmas tree.
“It’s nostalgia,” he said is the reason he wanted to see Big Boy up close on Thursday.
Scott and Kris Minnich, Schuylkill County natives living in Allentown, made the trip to Tamaqua to see Big Boy. They did not leave disappointed. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience that was everything they’d hoped it would be.
“Oh, it was awesome,” Kris, an Ashland native now living in Allentown with her husband, Scott, a Hegins native, said. “It was deafening when the horn went.”
“It rattled the ground a lot,” Scott added.
Big Boy drew more than just locals and people from neighboring counties, too. Jim Whatley came all the way from Brandon, Florida, to see Big Boy. Well, he and his family were in Virginia on vacation but decided to travel an extra 200 miles to Tamaqua to see the historic event.
Whatley’s father-in-law is a Coaldale native and was along for the trip, along with Whatley’s wife and five children.
“It was just deafening loud,” Whatley said. “It was a neat experience to be part of American history.”
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