This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only. Distribution and use of this material are governed by our Subscriber Agreement and by copyright law. For non-personal use or to order multiple copies, please contact The Epoch Times Reprints.
People gather along the railroad tracks to watch as Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014, the world’s largest operating steam locomotive, makes a stop in the city’s downtown during its cross-country journey to celebrate America's 250th birthday, in Tama, Iowa, on June 1, 2026. Between 1941 and 1944 Union Pacific commissioned 25 Big Boy locomotives, eight still remain, but the restored 4014 is the only one that is fully operational. Scott Olson/Getty Images
LUZERNE COUNTY, Pennsylvania—Over the Flag Day weekend in Pennsylvania, crowds gathered, and communities were formed in the most unlikely of places, under viaducts, along gravel-filled tracks and at the base of some impressive Appalachian mountains, all just to watch as Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 rolled through northeastern Pennsylvania.
Salena Zito has held a long, successful career as a national political reporter. Since 1992, she has interviewed every U.S. president and vice president, as well as top leaders in Washington, including secretaries of state, speakers of the House and U.S. Central Command generals. Her passion, though, is interviewing thousands of people across the country. She reaches the Everyman and Everywoman through the lost art of shoe-leather journalism, having traveled along the back roads of 49 states.
