CONTINENTAL, Ohio (WLIO) -Â Thousands of people of all ages gathered in Continental at the intersection of Oak and Main Street to welcome the historic Big Boy 4014 steam locomotive.
Locals and visitors from all across the state gathered at the tracks well before the train arrival.
“Well, we've been actually having it on the calendar for a couple months. When I was a kid, I had a lot of trains and stuff, so we're very excited about it. We only live about 20 minutes away, so we were just excited to come see Big Boy," said Aaron Bradford.
“We've enjoyed trains for a long time. Our adopted son works for R. J. Corman and he has taken us on many train trips. And we love train rides," said Pam Pugh of Celina.
This is the train's second visit to Continental for the summer as part of a larger historic tour that started in April of this year.
An estimated 6,000 to 7,000 people swarmed Continental during the train’s last visit. While train enthusiasts who were present for both visits say the crowd was smaller this time around, the second visit gave people a second chance at this once in a lifetime opportunity.
“Well, it's pretty cool because this train, there's a good chance my kids will never get to see this come through again. So, getting to see it at least once meant a lot to our whole family," said Bradford.
“There's a lot of people, and we're glad to see them. For a community this size to have this many people, it's probably very impressive to the townspeople that we're all here, and that we drove a little over an hour to get here," Pugh said.
Following the Continental stop, the train continued its historic journey in honor of America 250 through Paulding County.Â
