Traditional celebrations fill the holiday, along with a “Big Boy” steam engine visit.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Maggie Hopkin dodges a stream of water as she fires back into the crowd from a fire engine during an Independence Day parade in Morgan on Thursday, July 4, 2024.

The city of Morgan, nestled in the Wasatch Mountains of northern Utah, celebrated Independence Day with just about everything you’d expect at a small town party:

A flag-raising ceremony, a community breakfast, a parade, a street fair and fireworks. Locals also engaged in a cardboard boat regatta along the Weber River.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Bruce and Nancy Goodhue, from Washington Terrace, watch the parade in Morgan on Thursday, July 4, 2024.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Morgan High cheerleaders perform in the Morgan parade on Thursday, July 4, 2024.

The city’s festivities Thursday included a special visitor: Big Boy No. 4014, which Union Pacific says is the world’s largest operating steam locomotive.

Built in 1941, the giant steamer was made to undertake the rail journey between Ogden and Cheyenne, Wyoming. The engine, recently restored and now used for promotion, is making a whistle-stop tour across the West in July and leaves Salt Lake City on Saturday.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Big Boy No. 4014 locomotive leaves Morgan Station on Thursday, July 4, 2024.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Big Boy N. 4014 locomotive leaves Morgan Station on Thursday, July 4, 2024.