Loose change taped to the shiny rails glistens under the early afternoon sun. A memento of sorts, I suppose, soon to be squished to smithereens by the world's largest steam locomotive, Union Pacific's Big Boy Number 4014. As the hot summer sun climbs higher into the sky, so too does the anticipation from the steadily growing crowd of onlookers, who are quickly assembling at an otherwise unassuming bend in a railroad freight line situated along a dirt road where the legality of trespassing is as steamy as the soon-to-arrive locomotive. Everyone here is gathered for the same reason, to catch a glimpse of Big Boy as it rumbles west, on its way through Braddock and onward past Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and eventually toward Cheyenne, Wyoming on its coast to coast tour across America. Soon, the rails begin to quiver and squeal with heavy weighted emotion, as the low growl of Big Boy's horn can be heard echoing off the adjacent mountains. A cloud of steam appears in the distance as the locomotive begins to round the bend. The crowd packs in tight against the right of way, getting as close to rails as possible without being physically dragged under by the monstrous train. It's a mosh pit in the center, a small child darts across the rail gauge, escaping the mob with just moments to spare. Rail fanatics are foaming at the mouth, their tripods as erect as they are. Like a series of solar panels designed to move with the sun as it tracks across the sky, the large crowd shifts in synchronicity from left to right as Big Boy whips past. And just like that it's over. The steam clears and so too does the crowd. People make the hike back to their oversized SUV's, their faces plastered to their little black mirrors, sharing the same photo everyone else took of Big Boy to their favorite dead internet social media site. It becomes clear to me that the real thrill however, was the crowd itself. It was a day that Americans of a multitude of shapes and sizes came together to trespass, all to catch a glimpse of a very Big Boy.
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