POTTSTOWN PA – Union Pacific Railroad’s famous Big Boy No. 4014, billed as the world’s largest operating steam locomotive, is expected to arrive July 2 (2026; Thursday) in Pottstown. As part of its first multi-state Eastern U.S. summer tour, the train will pull in at 3:30 p.m. on the tracks adjacent to 51 S. Hanover St. for a scheduled 15-minute visit.
Its duration is short; Union Pacific calls it a “whistle-stop.” The event is free to attend. The Pottstown Business Improvement District says the railroad company expects between 3,000 and 4,000 visitors from across the region.
That won’t be its only stop locally.
Two hours before Big Boy’s July 2 Pottstown visit, the train will pull into the Reading & Northern Railroad’s Outer Station at 3501 Pottsville Pike, Reading. It is scheduled to arrive there at 1:30 p.m., and depart at 2:15 p.m.
Post-Pottstown Stops
Then, after leaving Pottstown, the train will move farther east to King of Prussia for a no-public-access lay-over until July 3 (Friday). From there it travels south to Philadelphia, and the city’s America 250 anniversary on July 4-5 (Saturday and Sunday).
The public can track Big Boy’s movements across the nation using an online map. Its “eastern leg will conclude the Big Boy’s Coast-to-Coast 2026 tour,” the railroad company adds. Earlier this spring, it reports, “the Big Boy visited California, with a stop at the Central Pacific’s Milepost Zero in Sacramento.” That’s where eastward construction of the transcontinental railroad began.
Photos provided by Union Pacific Railroad
How Pottstown Borough is Getting Ready
Members of the Business Improvement District encourage visitors to “arrive early, enjoy food vendors, support local businesses, and experience this historic moment in Downtown Pottstown.”
- Pottstown officials suggest that Borough Parking Lot 1 will be the best viewing area. The lot will be closed to vehicles July 2 at 7 a.m;
- To ensure visitor safety Hanover Street will be closed, from Industrial Boulevard to High Street, from noon to 5 p.m.;
- Visitors can assemble in designated areas on either side of the tracks, but must remain at least 25 feet away from railroad property at all times; and
- To enhance the experience, several food vendors will be available, offering goods for purchase, “along the Hanover Street closure area across from Parking Lot 1.
Norfolk Southern A Tour Partner
Big Boy’s travels represent a cooperative venture with Norfolk Southern Railroad, Union Pacific says. Norfolk Southern owns the tracks that run through Pottstown and beyond. The tour marks “a historic collaboration between two of the nation’s storied railroads,” and brings the legendary locomotive “back to communities that helped power America’s industrial rise,” according to a Union Pacific media release.
The company also notes that “this is the first time Big Boy has steamed across the Mississippi River and into the Ohio Valley since it was built in Schenectady NY” and delivered to Union Pacific in 1941.
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