Big Boy rumbles through Ripley, city with appreciative crowd
Photo by Roger Coda Big Boy arrives in Ripley on Tuesday afternoon.
OBSERVER Photos by M.J. Stafford Big Boy heads into Dunkirk on the tracks next to Lucas Avenue Tuesday afternoon.
Hundreds of people gathered along Lucas Avenue in Dunkirk Tuesday afternoon to wait for Big Boy
Photo by Roger Coda Big Boy arrives in Ripley on Tuesday afternoon.
OBSERVER Photos by M.J. Stafford Big Boy heads into Dunkirk on the tracks next to Lucas Avenue Tuesday afternoon.
Hundreds of people gathered along Lucas Avenue in Dunkirk Tuesday afternoon to wait for Big Boy
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With Big Boy about 10 minutes late getting out of Ripley, that only gave the crowd along Lucas Avenue in Dunkirk more time to grow.
By the time the giant locomotive came through at 1:20 p.m., there were up to 300 people waiting for it in the area. Most gathered in the vacant lot between Lucas Avenue and the tracks. One spectator brought his bucket lift truck to get a better view.
Big Boy could be heard before it could be seen, its deep whistle audible well up the track. A drone buzzed overhead as dozens brandished cameras and phones in anticipation.
It finally blasted in with a huge puff of black smoke. Big Boy was mostly carrying old Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern passenger cars, beautifully painted for the cross-country celebratory trip.
A minute later, the train was gone, off to Buffalo. Its whistle could be heard throughout Dunkirk as it carried on.
Big Boy will be on display in Buffalo Wednesday.