Big Boy - schedule

I looked for the dates, times, and route in PA closest to my friend in Glen Rock.

It looks like Harrisburg, late on July 7. That sounds like a nice day trip.
 
When it came through a couple of years ago, we took our granddaughter to see it. We figured it might be a once in a lifetime chance for her.

Big Boy 1.jpg
 
There was a whistle stop 20 minutes from my house today. I did not expect the crowd size in the thousands. But i was glad so many people still care. It came into the crossing under steam, stopped for about 25 minutes and the diesel helper engines pushed it back out. Would have liked to see it really pull back in the day. 1000013089.gif
 
For it to come this far east is a big deal. It has never come this far and only crossed the Mississippi once after being built and on its way to delivery back in 1941. Per the site, it'll be an extra special reuniting with another Big Boy in Scranton, PA, though that one is no longer operational. Hopefully I can get up there to view it in action, but photos and video don't do it justice. It is MAMMOTH.
 
My wife and I drove 3+ hours to Fostoria, OH to mingle with tens of thousands of people to welcome Big Boy. We stood around for 2 1/2 hours in the hot sun but it was worth it when she rolled around the bend to the Triangle Rail Park. Afterward, we drove 2 1/2 hours home. Crazy! Today we went to a RR crossing in Euclid, Ohio. Big Boy was hidden behind the mass of people and stopped blocking the road...well the thousands of people blocked the road so it made little difference. Then we went with a friend to a house in Mentor, Ohio. All the houses along Jackson Road have back yards next to the RR tracks. When Big Boy sailed past she blasted her horn and nearly lifted hundreds of people off their feet.

If she is named Big Boy, why do we call her a she?
 
I do have to say that Big Boy was not as impressive as all those ole locomotives you see in western movies bearing down on a comely young lass tied to the railroad tracks. Big Boy has a lot of sheet metal covering the moving parts (though those huge drive wheels are amazing) and it could be mistaken for a modern locomotive. Among other things, it lacks a huge cow catcher up front. Were you to look only at the electronic displays inside the cab you might think you were in a plane. The horn, however, could be used to cook a turkey at 30 yards.

One of the train cops (aka Union Pacific Special Agent - from a patch on their vests) told me Big Boy is fueled on used motor oil. Has anyone heard this? Is it true?
 
It is powered by oil now - not sure what type, I would assume heating oil.. A lot of old coal burner steam locomotives have been converted to propane fired boilers. There are a couple of them operating in the Santa Cruz mountains not far from me that have been converted this way.
 
Coming right through our town but we're going to be at OHSTOC! The only other opportunity would be to drive down to Steamtown in Scranton. Not ready to deal with "thousands" though.

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If we can make it, here's the schedule we will be working around:

July 7 — Lebanon, PA
  • Lebanon Station, 250 N 8th St, Lebanon, PA 17046
    • Arrive: 12:30 p.m. EDT
    • Depart: 1:15 p.m. EDT

July 8 — Lewistown & Altoona, PA
  • Roundhouse Road crossing, Lewistown, PA
    • Arrive 12:45 p.m.
    • Depart 1:15 p.m. EDT
  • Railroaders Memorial Museum,1200 9th Ave, Altoona, PA 16602.
    • Arrive 5:15 p.m.
    • Depart 5:45 p.m. EDT

July 9–10 — Altoona, PA
  • Static display event
    • Hours: 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. EDT
    • Free admission
    • Shuttle access from Peoples Natural Gas Field required.
 
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