I Went to Chase a Train
On the Union Pacific Big Boy's tour through upstate New York.
Owego, NY. June 12, 2026. You could feel the anticipation running through the crowd. People with cameras, people holding their phones in the air, people with kids sitting on their shoulders.
Then we heard it in the distance. A low, deep sound from the whistle. It wouldn’t be long now.
I came here hoping to chase a train. I underestimated the crowds. I underestimated the atmosphere. I expected a handful of train buffs being on hand to chase the Union Pacific Big Boy as it passed through a small town in NY State’s southern tier. What I found was a celebration. Young and old alike had come out to see history being made by a rolling piece of our nation’s history.
People drove from miles away, took their kids out of school or daycare for the day, came early, and gathered in large numbers to see this larger-than-life piece of our history.
I attempted to leave Owego and get ahead of the train for some more photos. I found one crossing where I could park, and waited. After one quick shot there, I got back in the car. But once the train went by, the number of cars trying to do the same became a traffic jam. It soon became clear I wouldn’t see the 4014 again that day.
This train is an exclamation mark on its history, the history of Union Pacific, and the history of the United States. It’s traveling the rails again in celebration of the 250th anniversary of our nation’s existence, coming to the East Coast, ultimately headed to Philadelphia, PA, for the 4th of July.
Watching the excitement in the crowd briefly took me back to when I was very young, when I saw The Freedom Train as it visited Boston in 1976 for the US Bicentennial.
The Union Pacific 4014, Big Boy, is the largest locomotive ever built. Everything about it was, and still is, larger than life.
Did the Union Pacific put all the money and time into that restoration because it would be a good investment in advertising? Did someone foresee the symbol it could be for the country’s 250th birthday? Did they envision a child sitting on a parent’s shoulders watching it go by? Or did someone remember being that kid years ago, watching wide-eyed as they watched a locomotive go by, breathing steam?
As I remembered seeing that train in Boston 50 years ago, I think I know the answer.
