The half-hour stop in Ripley – one of a handful in New York state – drew a large, robust crowd to the South State Street rail crossing, where the 600-ton marvel historic steam-powered locomotive could be viewed. It was a festive atmosphere, as cheers and clapping erupted from the crowd lining both sides of the Norfolk & Southern track as the train arrived and departed.

“Based on our estimates, we had 5,000-plus,” said Chautauqua County Media Information Officer Justin Gould. And that’s probably a little under the actual number of people, he added, that also lined the tracks all the way up to the two adjacent rail crossings on other streets.

“It seemed like everybody was very happy, and we owe a lot of that to the planning that paid off, with the Town of Ripley leading that effort,” according to Gould. “We are very excited for this happy day in Chautauqua County.”

The scene was a glimpse of how railroads operated in the 1940s. The crowd that began assembling more than two hours ahead of the scheduled noontime stop heard the shrieking whistle and experienced the smells and intense heat generated by the 7,000-horsepower engine that was powered by two sets of wheels.

About 300 were in attendance on Lucas Avenue in Dunkirk.

“We’re extremely excited and honored that the steam engine is stopping in Ripley,” Town Supervisor Lauree Pless said Monday afternoon. The community welcomes the locomotive, she added, “and I know that I speak for the entire community when I say that we are really looking forward to this once-in-a-lifetime experience.”

The town drew substantial interest in the event through phone calls and email inquiries, Pless said, seeking logistical information, such as available parking and the locomotive’s arrival time. A camper from Georgia rolled into town on Monday, she noted. Railroad security personnel handed out Union Pacific Jr. Special Agent Railroad Police stickers to children. Miniature American flags were also passed out.

“We’ve had calls from as close as North East and, obviously, some as far away as Rochester have called or just reached out,” she explained, to acquaintances or family members who live in the Town of Ripley.

“Big Boy was described to me as the ‘Elvis Presley’ for train enthusiasts,” Pless said. The town was advised by Union Pacific to anticipate as few as 300 to 400 visitors, or as many as 5,000, she added. “We just don’t know,” Pless said Monday.

“We’ve had 200,000 impressions on social media, from Facebook and our website,” Gould reported, in just the last four days. “We focused our message primarily on Chautauqua County, Erie County, Pa., and the Buffalo area, though we had interest from other areas.”

Photo by Roger Coda Big Boy leaves Ripley.

In addition to the State Street crossing, Big Boy could also be viewed at four other rail crossings in the village.

The town worked closely with Chautauqua County Emergency Services, Ripley Central School District, Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office and Ripley Hose Company 1 to take steps to make sure people had a good time and were also safe. Yellow caution tape lined both sides of the track. CHQ Trolleys shuttled people on State Street to the town park and the First Baptist Church. Railroad security personnel were also on duty.

The Ripley Free Library joined the festivities by hosting a “Railgate Party,” serving light refreshments and birthday cake ahead of the locomotive’s arrival.

Big Boy was scheduled to be on display in Buffalo on Wednesday. Other brief stops of 15 to 30 minutes were planned in Silver Springs, Letchworth State Park, Hornell, Oswego, Binghamton and nearby North East, Pa., according to Union Pacific’s Big Boy 4014 website.

Powered by two sets of wheels, the 600-ton Big Boy locomotives were built in Schenedtady, NY, in the 1940s to haul heavy freight over the Wasatch Mountains in the west to support the America’s World War II effort. Of the 25 commissioned, only eight remain, and Big Boy 4014 is the only one still in operational.

Big Boy’s visit takes place 50 years after one of the two American Freedom trains passed through Ripley during the nation’s bicentennial. The community’s railroad heritage goes all the way back to the 1850s, when tracks were laid by the Buffalo & State Line Railroad, which later merged with the Erie and North East Railroad to form the Buffalo and Erie Railroad in 1867. For decades, trains shipped grapes and other fruit, in addition to transporting passengers, mail and other freight.

Abraham Lincoln traveled through Ripley via rail on his way to be sworn into office, and four years later Lincoln’s funeral train passed through Ripley to reach his homeplace in Illinois.

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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.

— M.J. Stafford