Documenting the Past.
Understanding Our Roots.
Recording Lost Memories.
Avonworth Historical Society is dedicated to preserving the history of the Avonworth community and its future development, providing a sense of history and place for upcoming generations. Our purpose is to collect the artifacts, stories and images from the original settlers to those of its newest inhabitants. We aspire to chronicle the progression of our original communities of Ben Avon, Ben Avon Heights, Emsworth, Ohio Township and Kilbuck Township from rural areas into vibrant neighborhoods.
On Saturday, July 11, 2026, Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 came down the Ohio River valley through Emsworth as part of its coast-to-coast tour marking America’s 250th anniversary. Built in 1941 and measuring 133 feet end to end at roughly 1.2 million pounds, No. 4014 is the only operating Big Boy left of the twenty-five built, and this tour brought it into the Ohio Valley for the first time since it left the factory floor.
The locomotive left Altoona that morning, crossed the Monongahela, and followed the river through Bellevue, Avalon, Emsworth, Haysville and Sewickley before its only public stop in Western Pennsylvania, a brief whistle-stop at Leetsdale that evening.
The setting is as much a part of this footage as the engine. The tracks are the descendant of the Pittsburgh, Fort Wayne and Chicago line laid along the Ohio in the mid-1800s, the corridor that brought settlement to this stretch of riverbank and led to the incorporation of Ben Avon in 1892 and Emsworth in 1896. Just off camera sits the Emsworth Locks and Dam, where the lock chambers opened in 1921 and remain the oldest on the Ohio River system. Rail and river, built for the same purpose, in the same frame for about ninety seconds.
Our thanks to Tracy Ferguson for capturing and sharing this.
TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13, 2026
SPEAKER: BRITSBURGH + AVONWORTH HISTORICAL SOCIETY
Explore the British/UK roots of Avonworth’s Founders through fascinating local history and a travel-inspired look at the towns, landscapes and culture that shaped their lives. We will discover the stories that connect our community over the pond to the United Kingdom.
