HERMANN – Area residents will have another chance next month to see one of the largest steam locomotives ever built when Union-Pacific’s Big Boy pulls into Hermann for a brief visit.

The Monday, July 20, stop is set for 3:15 p.m. The 15-minute stop is expected to draw hundreds, possibly thousands, based on an earlier visit by the smoke-belching behemoth.

“We had about 2,500 people down at the Amtrak station,” said Hermann Director of Tourism & Economic Development Tammy Bruckerhoff, referring to the turnout for the 2021 visit of Big Boy, one of several such locomotives that was built to pull unusually heavy loads of freight.

This particular version of Big Boy ran an east-west route, primarily pulling cars carrying military equipment such as tanks and other heavy items.

On July 20, the steam engine will roll through Kirkwood and make a stop in Pacific, Bruckerhoff last week told the other members of the Hermann Regional Economic Development (HRED) Corporation Board of Directors during their regular monthly session. After leaving Pacific, the engine will travel through Washington, New Haven and then make its 15-minute stop in Hermann and then continue its journey westward.

“We are very fortunate that they are stopping in Hermann,” Bruckerhoff said.

The tourism director said the visit by Big Boy will be a big attraction for residents from throughout the region.

“There are people who will be coming from all over the Midwest to see that train,” she said.