On the morning of Saturday, June 13, 2026, Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4014, the world’s largest operating steam locomotive, rolled across the Tunkhannock Creek Viaduct in Nicholson, Pennsylvania. Hundreds of railfans camped beneath the bridge the night before, and thousands more lined the hills and roads around town to watch. We were in the air.
A once-in-a-generation crossing
Big Boy 4014 was built in 1941 to haul freight over the Wasatch Mountains, retired in 1961, and returned to service by Union Pacific in 2019. Its 2026 coast-to-coast tour marks America’s 250th anniversary and brought the locomotive east of Chicago for the first time, through New York and Pennsylvania, on its way to Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, where it was displayed beside its sister engine, Big Boy No. 4012.
Getting there meant crossing one of Northeastern Pennsylvania’s great landmarks. The Tunkhannock Creek Viaduct, known locally as the Nicholson Bridge, was completed in 1915 by the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad and still carries freight today. Seeing a 1941 steam giant on a 1915 concrete bridge is a sight few people will see twice.
The view from the drone
From the ground, the viaduct is so large that the train becomes a detail. From the air you get both: the full sweep of the arches across the valley, and close passes along the deck as the locomotive works across with smoke rolling off the stack.
Flying an event like this
Big public events are some of the hardest places to fly well. Union Pacific asked spectators, drone pilots included, to stay at least 25 feet from the tracks. Before flying an event, check for temporary flight restrictions, keep clear of crowds and the railroad right of way, and fly under FAA Part 107 if the footage will be used commercially.
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