Not since the late Father Angelini held his Shower of Roses has there been such a clamor and a turnout of visitors to Nesquehoning as there was on Saturday.

The spectacle was a visit by “Big Boy 4014, the largest operating steam locomotive in the world.

Big Boy 4014, owned by Union Pacific Railroad, was brought to the Reading & Northern Railroad Station in Nesquehoning as part of the large train’s nationwide semiquincentennial tour.

Several thousand people jammed the area by the train station, as well as locations along the track through the town, for the arrival of Big Boy. It arrived about 6:40 p.m. Saturday with its moose-like whistle and belching black and gray smoke announcing its arrival before it was even visible. The spectators were both local residents as well as many who arrived from other states for the historical viewing.

This was the first time in its 85-year history that the train was brought to the East Coast. Big Boy remained at the Nesquehoning railroad station overnight, traveled to Hometown to turnaround early Sunday morning, then departed the town at 10 a.m. Sunday for Scranton’s Steamtown Museum where it will be on display the rest of the month.

If traveling to Steamtown to see it, it is recommended that reservations be made because of the anticipated turnout of spectators.

Not only was Nesquehoning overrun with spectators, so was Glen Onoko where the Reading & Northern Railroad tracks pass through. So crowded was Glen Onoko both Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning that the entrance road had to be closed.

Andy Mueller Jr., owner and chief executive officer of the Reading and Northern, said the visit by Big Boy was “the most fantastic railfan event of the 21st century” on this railroad.

The engine of the train is 133-feet long — including the tender — and weighs 1.2 million pounds. It was retired in December 1961, but Union Pacific Railroad reacquired it from a California museum in 2013 and had it refurbished.

The restoration project took several year. It was returned to service in May 2019 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad’s completion. Union Pacific agreed to have it tour the entire nation in recognition of railway history as part of the United State’s 250th anniversary this year.

For local residents who didn’t see the train on Saturday, it will be returning to the area on July 2, making a stop in Jim Thorpe where it will depart at 9 a.m. and travel to Reading. The July route takes Big Boy past Lake Hauto, into Hometown, through Tamaqua, into New Ringgold, past Port Clinton and onto Reading.

On Saturday, enthusiasts could take an excursion on a 23-car passenger train pulled by a steam engine to Pittston to meet up with Big Boy. The two locomotives were, at times, side-by-side on the journey from Pittston to Nesquehoning.

Nesquehoning police were joined by fire police and railroad police in controlling the traffic and crowds in the Nesquehoning. This included having several streets blocked off, and several designated parking areas, some with free shuttle service.

The Scandurra family came from Shelton, Connecticut. They looked at a map to determine various stops Big Boy will make and decided on coming to Nesquehoning. The family included John and Donna; their son, Jason, 45; and grandson Ethan, 13. Donna said they have come to Jim Thorpe “a lot of times” for the bicycle train rides that the local railroad offers. They’ve also been to Steamtown to see the trains.

John said he became interested in trains 45 years ago when his son was born. Jason inherited the enthusiasm and said he periodically travels to Bound Brook, New Jersey where freight trains utilize the main line.

Both the father and son have HO model trains with about 150 cars.

“They’re train buffs,” John said of his son and grandson. “They love it.”

Donna said that Lancaster (Strasburg) “has the best collection” of trains.

Frank Crampton of Middleport arrived three hours early to see the train and already all the viewing areas were crowded. “We wanted to go to Lehigh Gorge but it was closed,” he said.

He said he will miss the July visit, which will pass closer to his home, because he will be on vacation at that time.

“This is once in a lifetime,” said Walter Marczak of Bradford, Massachusetts, who visited with his son, Derek, age 24.

He said they visited Steamtown and saw a large train on display there, “but now we can see one moving.”

Upon leaving Nesquehoning, the father and son were headed to Scranton to see Big Boy on display.

Derek said, “I’ve been interested in trains since I was very young. When I was looking at the dates for the Big Boy visits, I saw Chicago, New York. Then I saw Scranton and said, ‘I was there before.’”

Besides Scranton, the father and son have traveled to Connecticut, New Hampshire and even Chattanooga, Tennessee to see trains. In Chattanooga, they stayed overnight in a Pullman car that was converted into a hotel.

“This is our third trip to Steamtown,” Derek said regarding Sunday’s visit.

Steve Hay traveled here from Austin, Texas with his father, Melvin, age 85, for the Big Boy 4014 visit. The family previously lived in Tobyhanna, moving to Austin 45 years ago.

“I’m a fanatic,” Steve admitted, stating that in 2019 he chased the Big Boy on its western U.S. tour, seeing the train in Utah in Wyoming.

He said he still has family in Tobyhanna, “so we couldn’t miss this.”

Melvin’s brother, Neil, who still lives here, joined them in Nesquehoning.

Steve said when he visited Pennsylvania relatives as a kid, he was fascinated with the trains here, including the former Jersey Central freight trains.

Of the Big Boy excursion, “I couldn’t believe they’re running it on the Nesquehoning branch,” he said. “This is great.”

He said initially he saw Big Boy in the Wyoming Valley on Saturday when it was side-by-side with the local steamer, then journeyed to White Haven for another view.

Not only has Hay chased trains here, he also has been on trains in England and Japan.

“This area still means more to me than anywhere else,” he said. “This place is very special.”

Hay had an interesting story to tell. He volunteers at a train station in Rockdale, Texas. He said a guy came into the store, they got to talking, and he said he was from Pennsylvania.

When asked where in Pennsylvania, the man responded, “You never heard of it. It’s a town called Lehighton.”

He’s kept in contact with the Lehightonian, whose name is Kent Lobein and was visiting in Texas.