But for people in Gallitzin, it’s a big deal.

According to a post from Union Pacific, the railroad that owns the world’s largest steam locomotive, the Big Boy will come through town on July 11 on Norfolk Southern Track 1, which passes through the New Portage Tunnel, where its emergence will not be publicly visible — not on either Track 2 or Track 3, which go through the Allegheny Tunnel, where its emergence would be clear to throngs of spectators and where it would present the opportunity for an iconic picture.

“Our entire council and members of the community are hoping we can get folks to consider changing the route, so we can get that historic photo,” wrote Borough Council member Joe Skura in an email. “(B)ring the train through our (Allegheny) tunnel while folks gather at Tunnels Inn and our Tunnels Museum — and show off the pride of our community as the train’s passing through brings many.”

If the Big Boy goes through the Allegheny Tunnel, people could watch from a bridge and a nearby park, according to Skura and others.

Steam locomotive Big Boy, owned by Union Pacific, travels through the countryside near Woodbine, Iowa, in 2024. Courtesy photo

But if it goes through the New Portage Tunnel, whose western end is about four-tenths of a mile to the southeast of the western mouth of the Allegheny Tunnel, its emergence won’t be visible from public land, according to Bob Elder, who owns the Tunnel Inn. It won’t be visible, for example, from the Main Street Bridge over the tracks near Fabbri Park, because after it comes out of the tunnel, the tracks continue over an upgrade, until they clear a rise — a rise that blocks a view of the tunnel mouth, Elder said.

The only way to see the train emerge from the New Portage Tunnel would be to trespass on railroad property, Elder said.

“There’s no public access,” he said.

Community leaders have tried unsuccessfully to get a response from railroad company operators on whether the Big Boy could be rerouted through the Allegheny Tunnel.

The Mirror reached out to the public relations department of Norfolk Southern, which owns the tracks on which the Big Boy will travel, but hasn’t received a reply.

There was speculation that the locomotive is too heavy to cross an overpass along the segment of line leading to the Allegheny Tunnel.

But weight isn’t the issue, according to Dan Cupper, former Norfolk Southern locomotive engineer, historian and author and editor of the Railroad History and Quarterly Newsletter.

The Big Boy is huge and heavy, but it has lots of axles and wheels to distribute that weight, Cupper said in a phone conversation.

There was also speculation that it might not fit through the Allegheny Tunnel.

But that’s hard to believe, said Irene Szynal, a volunteer at the museum.

Still, if there’s some safety reason, it’s understandable that Union Pacific chose the New Portage route, Szynal said.

The Allegheny Tunnel was built in 1854 by the Pennsylvania Railroad to bring its mainline through the last rise of the Allegheny Front to the west of the Horseshoe Curve, according to Cupper.

The New Portage Tunnel was built by the state of Pennsylvania in 1856, two years later, in the state’s attempt to compete with the PRR, after the PRR’s successful conquest of the Allegheny Front rendered obsolete the state’s Main Line of Public Works that included the Allegheny Portage Railroad.

But while the state conquered the Allegheny Front like the PRR, it was too late, because the PRR got over the mountain first and established its precedence, Cupper said.

The Gallitzin leaders haven’t given up hope.

If the Big Boy could come through the Allegheny Tunnel, “that picture would really be a picture,” Szynal said. “We’re hoping for this couple minutes of fame.”

Tyrone

Tyrone is also working to maximize the benefits it can derive from the coming of the Big Boy.

It has been alternately optimistic and pessimistic about the possibility the locomotive would stop for a time at the Tyrone passenger station, which sits in a corner of the borough through which the mainline runs, according to Mayor John Harlow.

Based on the first plans Harlow saw, the train was going to stop, he said. The next set he saw called for no stop. The third plans called again for a stop. But the fourth and most recent plans took it away, he said.

“As of now, it’s not stopping,” he said.

Harlow has contacted officials from the Nittany & Bald Eagle Railroad, a short line that runs through Tyrone, suggesting that if they communicate with Union Pacific or Norfolk Southern about the Big Boy’s plans, he’d be glad for them to advocate for a stop in the borough.

But it’s not like he “stood on the soapbox and screamed,” he said.

Either way, the borough is planning a festival, even if the only Big Boy-related payoff is to see the locomotive whoosh by.

Harlow is expecting perhaps 5,000 people from out of town, coupled with many from in the borough, whose population is 5,400.

“Plan for the worst (most challenging) case scenario and hope for the best,” he said.

The borough has been working with churches and businesses that are expected to have room in their parking lots on the afternoon of July 8.

He’s expecting to secure 1,000 to 1,500 spaces, he said.

The borough is also working with churches that have vans and buses to shuttle those who park in those lots to the station area.

He expects people to be standing 10 to 15 deep at the station.

Union Pacific has warned spectators to stay at least 25 feet away from the tracks when viewing the Big Boy.

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.