SCRANTON, Pa. — Big Boy is back where he belongs. The Union Pacific Railroad engine and signature attraction at Steamtown National Historic Site has returned after 18 months away for restoration.
Big Boy needed another engine and a team of people to pull back into the station, as seen on a time-lapse video taken last week.
"There's only eight left in the country. There were only 25 originally made. I think it's one of the great examples; I think now we can say this one is one of the nicest looking right now! So, we're just really proud to be able to do this," said Cheri Shepherd, Steamtown National Historic Site superintendent.
Steamtown sent the engine for restoration in the fall of 2019.
Stephen Belcastro, originally from Scranton, made a special trip with his family to see the restored engine up close.
"This is phenomenal; I think this is great," Belcastro said. "I really am so happy that the city of Scranton has the Steamtown museum here, and this is kind of the keystone, right? It's amazing, and it's phenomenal that we're able to maintain it and keep it here in Scranton. It's wonderful."
Just to give you some perspective on the size of this train—the wheels are exactly 6 feet tall, and 100 gallons of paint was used in the restoration.
But Big Boy got much more than just a fresh coat of paint.
Asbestos was removed from the engine, and steel plating around the boilers was replaced but made to look exactly how they would have looked when Big Boy was built in the 1940s.
Park rangers say restoring a piece of history this rare is especially important.
"I think that's our job in the National Park Service and as park rangers," said Megan Stevens. "We want to have something tangible for people to look at to be able to share those stories."