The Union Pacific’s Big Boy, the largest steam locomotive in the world, arrived in Omaha midways through APS StampShow/ATA National Topical Stamp Show, and is parked about four blocks from the convention center where the show is being held.It will be open to the public Saturday, but dozens of people gathered on a hillside off Abbott Drive, just yards from the Iowa border, to get a preview. Some parked their cars in the right lane of the thoroughfare. Others walked to see this huge 4-8-8-4 engine. According to Wikipedia, there are eight of these locomotives still in existence, of 25 built between 1941 and 1944, and in-service until 1959. This is the only one operating, restored and again rolling in May 2019, in time for the sesquicentennial of the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869. UP’s headquarters are here in Omaha; the Transcontinental Railroad’s eastern terminus was also here.

The Union Pacific’s westward line met the Central Pacific Railroad’s eastward trackage from Sacramento in Promontory Summit, Utah. The U.S. Postal Service issued three stamps on May 10, 2019, to commemorate the historic event.