'Sheer Size" overwhelms Big Boy fans

CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. (WBEN)....Want a hint at just how popular Union Pacific's Big Boy steam-powered locomotive has become.

Thousands descended on Ripley, a tiny Chautauqua County town, to see the World War II-era locomotive pull into the center of the town.

Then, Wednesday morning - the second day of Big Boy's three-day Western New York sojourn - thousands more lined up in the Walden Galleria's parking lot to take a shuttle to the nearby Bison Yards, where Big Boy will remain through Thursday morning.

It was the chance to see the 132-foot-long jet black Big Boy that drew train and history buffs like Ben Drydale, who drove in from the Albany suburb of Clifton Park, and for Ryan McKenna of Germantown, Md. to drive to Cheektowaga.

"This is history," Drydale said.

For Drydale, the irony is that Big Boy was one of 25 steam-powered locomotives made between 1941 and 1944 by the American Locomotive Co. of Schenectady, which is also an Albany suburb.

Routing prevented Big Boy from making a stop in the Albany area, Union Pacific officials said.

"So, I drove four hours to Buffalo because it was that important to me," Drydale said.

McKenna and his son, William, - both self-described train buffs - said it was a personal mission to see Big Boy.

"It is the last of its kind," McKenna said.

Union Pacific is taking it on a cross-country trek as part of the America 250 celebration.

The trek will end of July 4th in Philadelphia.

For Gasport's Riley Bloomingdale, Big Boy's Cheektowaga stop was a personal watershed moment.

"I waited 12 years to see it," Bloomingdale said. "And, now it's here."