As Buffalo and Western New York welcome "Big Boy" - the world’s largest operating steam locomotive - it reminds many of the region and the city's prominent role as a major rail hub.
Big Boy is on a coast-to-coast tour of the country as part of the America 250 celebration.
100 years ago, Buffalo was the second-largest rail hub in the country.
"This visit by Big Boy really pays homage to Buffalo's position in transportation in American history," said local historian Marty Biniasz, co-founder of Forgotten Buffalo Tours and Forgotten Buffalo on Facebook. "The Chamber of Commerce back in the 1920s used to promote Buffalo as the second largest railroad center in America. We had 11 mainline railroads. There were 700 miles of railroad track just in the city of Buffalo alone and 300 passenger trains."
Biniasz compares Big Boy to an air show, but instead of looking up and seeing a B-17, people are going to be track-side as history passes by.
He says it's great to see it up close, but there's nothing quite like seeing it roll by.
"That's when the ground is going to shake, the whistle is going to scream, you're going to smell the oil and the steam. That's when it's really impressive," Biniasz said with WBEN.
In the 1940s, Big Boy was designed to go 60-to-70 mph, carrying a mile long of World War II freight. But around here, it will be moving at 35 mph. Biniasz says it will still be a show that will knock your senses out.
Big Boy is in Buffalo until Thursday morning at the Bison Rail Yard. Public tours are open Wednesday from 9 a.m. until 2 p.m. via free shuttles from the Walden Galleria near the Primark store.
Follow Big Boy using Union Pacific's real time tracker, UP.com
