In celebration of the 250th anniversary of the foundin of the United States of America.

The Union Pacific Railroad sen its historic steam locomotive, Big Boy number 4014, on a coast to coast tour.

One stop o this tour was at the Steamtown National Histori Site in Scranton, Pennsylvania, where number 4014 was displayed alongside another surviving Big Boy, number 4012.

We've had over 110,000 people come visit Steamtown to see the Big Boy reunion, to see 401 and 4014 next to each other.

We've had people come from as far away as Hawaii, and as far as I'm tracking internationally as far away as the Netherlands.

But what inspired so many people to travel such great distances just to see a train?

I came all the way from Tennessee, its a once in a lifetime thing, and for her to come all the way from California, all the way out here and to see next to her sister.

That's awesome.

We came from West Chester, Pennsylvania.

We've got two train loving kids, so we thought it was a perfect time to make the trip up here.

The big boys were a class of 25 massive steam locomotives built by ALCO in Schenectady, New York during the World War Two era to haul huge freight trains over Utah's Wasatch Mountains.

Originally intended to be named Wasatch, a worker at ALCO's Schenectady plant chalked “Big Boy” on the front of the first locomotives boiler during construction, and the nickname stuck.

Out of eight surviving big boys.

Number 4014 is the only one in operation and the largest, most powerful steam locomotive running today.

Although it spent its original service life in the American West, number 4014s visit to Pennsylvania brought a living piece of American railroad histor to a state whose own railroads were instrumental in shaping the nation.

For some, the connection to this history runs deep.

I love the trains.

I rode a train from the time I was a child.

My grandfather and his brother came to this country in the late 1800s early 1900s, and somehow came here.

I'm assumin they had a job with the railroad when they got off the boat.

In the small railroad town of Cresson.

Big boy's visit transformed an ordinary day into something closer to a festival.

just seeing all the people, the community here and everybody getting along, really nice to see and do somethin to bring everybody out together.

I think sometimes we get s stuck on our phones and whatnot.

It's kind of nice to be outside with the whole town.

People have an interest in things.

Rather than all the terrible things that are going on in the world.

Something that's good and interestin and historic at the same time.

Beyond the spectacle, Big Boy's visit became something more a chance for people to connect with history and with one another.

Anytime there's a train, I like to look at it.