In a drone shot taken near Buffalo, crowds are standing within perhaps five feet of the locomotive as it passes through a grade crossing, with individuals about to be blasted by steam and hot water released from the brake cylinder cocks located just above track level.

“People are getting way too close,” Watters said, reiterating a Union Pacific warning to stay at least 25 feet back from the tracks when the Big Boy goes by and explaining that the many recent local meetings have been focused mainly on viewer safety. “The Big Boy is a lot bigger than the (locomotives) we’re used to.”

Officials at the news conference talked about where the train will be and when; where to park and where not to park; and where to watch and where watching won’t be permitted.

The Big Boy will be coming from the east and passing by Tyrone sometime after 4 p.m. Wednesday, July 8.

People photograph the steam locomotive Union Pacific's Big Boy No. 4014 as it passes its travels across the Tunkhannock Creek Viaduct in Nicholson on June 13 as part of a coast-to-coast tour to celebrate America's 250th anniversary. The Associated Press

Tyrone is planning a Food Truck Festival that day to coincide with the train’s passing.

It will be going through Bellwood next.

The pedestrian bridge over the tracks in the borough will be accessible starting at noon for viewing, according to borough officials.

There will be a community watch party at 501 Main St., where food and drinks will be available for purchase.

There’s free parking in lots owned by the Bellwood-Antis School District, as designated by signs.

The Big Boy will arrive at the rail museum in Altoona at 5:15, where it will remain on the tracks for half an hour, parked between the 12th Street and 13th Street pedestrian bridges.

The locomotive can be viewed from those bridges, but due to occupancy restrictions calculated by the fire department, only 120 people will be permitted on the 12th Street bridge and 267 on the 13th Street crossover, according to city clerk Linda Rickens Schellhammer.

The city will use wrist bands to contend with demand for spots on the bridges.

They’ll be cleared of people at 12:45 p.m., then at 1 p.m., lines will form at both ends of both bridges for people to receive the wrist bands — first come, first served.

Those who get wrist bands don’t need to wait around, but can come back when the train arrives.

The walkway along the mainline next to the rail museum is also available for viewing, but will be limited to 890 people.

No chairs, large bags or coolers will be permitted on the bridges or walkway, and no smoking or vaping is permitted there, in the elevators to the 13th Street Bridge or in Heritage Plaza.

The Transportation Center garage will also be available for viewing, with a limit of 115 people per level.

Wristbands won’t be necessary to reserve spots on the walkway next to the museum or in the garage.

Motorists may not stop on 10th Avenue expressway to look at the train.

Food trucks will open at noon in Heritage Plaza that day, and some restaurants may open earlier.

There are restrooms at Heritage Plaza.

Parking is available in the garage and on the streets, where marked.

Parking is available at the museum lot only for paid museum attendees.

Parking won’t be available at the Station Medical Center.

Rose Yard stop

The next public viewing, no tickets required, will be from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, July 9 and 10, just off the mainline in Rose Yard, with pedestrian entry on Eighth Avenue at Fifth Street.

Photo and educational opportunities will be available there.

Norfolk Southern has built a track for the Big Boy train and has applied and rolled crushed stone to create a viewing area.

No parking will be permitted in the nearby neighborhood.

There will be free shuttle buses taking people to the event from Peoples Natural Gas Field and from the former Macy’s area at Logan Valley Mall.

Roads will be closed and no parking permitted from July 7 through July 11 on Bellwood Avenue between Lloyd and Fourth streets; on Third and Fourth streets between Bellwood and Seventh avenues; on Eighth Avenue between Fourth and Sixth streets and on Fifth and Sixth streets between Seventh and Eighth avenues.

There will be no parking on Seventh Avenue between Third and Fifth streets during that time.

Downtown, Curve viewing

On Saturday, July 11, the Big Boy will pass through downtown about 8:45 a.m. on its way to the Horseshoe Curve.

The locomotive can be viewed at that time from several bridges over the tracks, both pedestrian-only and those that also accommodate vehicles, between Rose Yard and the Curve.

At the Curve, it will stop for viewing for half an hour, starting at 9:30 a.m.

The Curve stop is a ticketed event, and it’s sold out.

Officials will close off the highway to the Curve at that time.

Even earlier, starting July 8 until after the train is gone, there will be no access to the Altoona Water Authority’s wooded watershed ground around the Curve, starting approximately at the headwaters of the lowest of three reservoirs, Lake Altoona, according to Salvadore Zaffuto, game warden.

There will be red signs designating the off-limit areas, Zaffuto said.

The restrictions are being put in place due to steep terrain, cliffs and other hazards, said Mike Bianconi, the authority’s director of water operations.

The Game Commission patrols authority ground as part of the commission’s Hunter Access Program.

The Big Boy will leave the Curve about 10:15 a.m. and head west through Allegheny Township.

The locomotive will pass through the New Portage Tunnel at Gallitzin, then arrive at 10:45 a.m. in Cresson Railroad Park, for a half hour viewing.

Working together

The first visit of the world’s largest operating steam locomotive to the East Coast, with a stop July 4 in Philadelphia, is a Union Pacific celebration of the nation’s 250th birthday.

But it also helps demonstrate “the coast-to-coast connectivity” that a proposed merger between Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern represents, said NS spokeswoman Heather Garcia, when asked to comment on a recent remark from a local official that Altoona — site of major NS operations — is getting an extended visit from the Big Boy as part of Union Pacific’s courtship of the smaller railroad.

As he understands it, the Big Boy’s visit to town was planned before the merger announcement, said Railroaders Memorial Museum Executive Director Joe DeFrancesco.

He attributes the extended stay here to Altoona’s “rich history of railroading.”

There have been many meetings during the last month or two between municipal government officials and first responder agency officials, according to Blair County Commissioner Dave Kessling.

The issues are complex and the visit of the big locomotive has created and will create significant stress and strain on local capabilities, he said.

“(But) at this time, everyone has a plan who will be where,” Kessling said. “It’s very refreshing to see agencies working together.”

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