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On July 12th… Union Pacific’s Big Boy #4014 departed Pennsylvania heading westward to its home in Cheyenne, Wyoming — after spending over a month in a state steeped in rich railroad history. Tens of thousands of railroad enthusiasts braved huge crowds and the Summer of 2026’s toughest heatwave thus far in Pennsylvania to see an American railroad legend up-close and personal. Truly a wonderful way to celebrate our country’s 250th Birthday… while also creating amazing memories that will last a lifetime!

As both a railroad and photography enthusiast, I was excited to hear that UP’s Big Boy #4014 would be traveling to parts of eastern USA for the first time since America’s largest steam locomotive was restored to “operating status” in 2019. And while 4014 spent two days in Philadelphia for the Independence Day Holiday Weekend, the Big Boy graced many towns on its coast-to-coast tour this year. So it was only natural that I’d scout some prime viewing locations in eastern PA before the Big Boy’s arrival to help ensure these once-in-a-lifetime memories would be extra special.

My ever-loyal Black Labrador companion, Eddie, was more than happy to join me on several of these scouting activities. And the hikes proved to be great exercise for both of us! Ultimately, I narrowed down my Big Boy venues to a short-list that included (1) Valley Forge Park, (2) Gladwyne PA along the Schuylkill River, (3) the Belmont Hills suburb of Philadelphia, (4) Lehigh Gorge, as well as (5) an exclusive private railroad crossing inside The Village Of Houser’s Crossing near Tamaqua, PA. And as an added bonus, I was able to reserve a seat in one of the open-air coaches on the Reading & Northern’s special Semiquincentennial excursion which road alongside the Big Boy train on July 1st between Nesquehoning and Pittston, PA. How cool was THAT!!!

Indeed… the Summer of 2026 highlighted by the Big Boy’s celebration of America’s 250th Anniversary is one that your’s truly will never forget. Thanks to Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, and the Reading & Northern railroads for providing such a grand opportunity to transport ourselves back to simpler times when steam locomotives ruled the rails and travel was an experience to be remembered forever. Guest Post and Photos courtesy of David Nicholas Creatives, LLC.

Enjoy The Nora D’Ecclesis Podcast of this adventure by clicking below on the Spotify link!

As dusk approached on Christmas night during the Revolutionary War 1776 a storm emerged on the Bucks County, Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River. General George Washington, Commander in Chief of the Continental Army and his officers planned with great precision an attack on the British mercenary troops, the Hessians, who were in Trenton NJ.

The Durham rowboats and flat ferries moved into position after dark as the snow and winds increased from the nor’easter storm. The men who sailed them were experienced Watermen from the New England Patriot enlisted. The guns and horses and as many men who could stand in the rowboats were loaded and miraculously survived the treacherous icy river that night.

After exiting the boats safely in New Jersey on the opposite shore George Washington then had to march his troops nine more miles in the storm on a path known these days as Continental Lane. There is a small sign Continental Lane in New Jersey and my group walked that path, in silence, except for our footsteps of the brush crunching under walking shoes. George Washington’s men did it in freezing winds and sleet many without shoes 250 years ago.

A few interesting accounts, the first from General Washington’s inexperience twenty years earlier. George learned from his prior military lack of experience earlier in the French and Indian War, that a good leader knows when to fight and when to bug out! General Washington used his twenty years of learning from those mistakes, and now in his forties, during a fight with the British months earlier in the Revolutionary War August, 1776 during the Battle of Long Island from Patriot Fort Defiance he did exactly that, he retreated.

The British were so powerful in the early skirmish that day General Washington used the tactic of leaving the campfires burning to fool the British, and under the darkness of night and huge fog cover his men and artillery moved toward the East River this time to leave Long Island, New York. It was the strategy he would repeat on the Christmas Day Crossing of the Delaware months later only this time to attack in Trenton and win the first major battle of the Revolutionary War.

Of the three army columns he instructed to flank him during the Delaware Crossing only the one under the direct command of General Washington made it to the Battle of Trenton. Perhaps his men were inspired by their officers reading the words of Thomas Paine in those tiny rowboats. “These are the times that try men’s souls.” We know George was inspired by his wife Martha as his notes indicate he viewed her portrait while crossing the Delaware River with his men in the small rowboats. Washington also left journals indicating that Martha joined him at as many as sixty percent of the colonial war zone encampments, for lengthy stays and in support of her husband and America.