GRAND MOUND, Iowa — A little more than 600 people live in Grand Mound, Iowa, and the community came out to see the Big Boy Locomotive.
The 83-year-old steam train is traveling through nine states on its eight-week-long "Heartland of America" tour.
This is the first time most visitors, like Rusty Case, are seeing the 132-foot-long locomotive. The Union Pacific train weighs in at 1.2 million pounds and is the largest steam train in the world.
"[This is my first time] in real life, yeah. I used to have an HO scale [Big Boy.] Used to," he said.
Originally built in 1941, the Big Boy was one of 25 trains made exclusively for the Union Pacific Railroad. Locomotive 4014 is now one of seven trains on display around the country.
Joseph and Kary Mayefski cleared their calendars the moment they learned the Big Boy was bustling through. The two excused their kids from school two weeks ago because of the family's love for locomotives.
"For [Kyle's] christening, we took him to the Green Bay [National Railroad] Museum," Kary said. "He was actually in the cab for [the stationary big boy]. Trains meant a lot to us all these years."
Visitors had 15 minutes to take photos and videos before the train continued to hit the tracks.
The Big Boy is scheduled to spend the weekend in Rochelle, Illinois, as it continues its route. You can track the rest of its stops here.