the Big Boy is on a tour of Western and Southern states, and today both Steve and Dennis went to go see it on it's championship tour!

I thought I posted the news and schedule last week... but I didn't. Flu is a weird thing that messes with your brain. A lot like sleep deprivation

 full schedule at  https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/schedule/index.htm   with dates and times

lotta power, not a lotta traction. But terrific vids of wheel slippage, I've never seen this before (turn down your volume before pressing play)

Watch until at least 4:40



https://trainfanatics.com/

a great article on the Big Boy 4014 (thanks Maurice!)

things I just learned in this article, 7000 hp of fire in the engine at any moment, and 60 percent of the locomotive is now new parts.

https://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a27966255/big-boy-4014-badass-train/

Whole lotta steam going on

the 4014 is back on the main line, and undergoing break in runs and inspections. You might want to change the video speed to 2x for the slow beginning

Since this was a break in run the locomotive is not working very much at all. Just a bit of throttle to keep the pistons lubricated. The locomotive made frequent stops to check bearings and rods for overheating. As expected there was some minor issues including leaking packing from both front cylinder rods. However this is a fairly easy fix. No major problems were reported.

Since the Union Pacific Railroad 6900 and 4023 were relocated to the Kenefick Park in 2005, the "Welcome To Omaha" display along Interstate 80 has some real appeal

https://www.facebook.com/RiverRailPhoto/photos/a.422008871342536/1055222981354452/?type=3&permPage=1&ifg=1

Big Boy 4014 has gotten the whistle working for the first time in 60 years, and is moving under her own power!

Big Boy 4014 is now one of eight engines still in existence, but the only one that’s still operational.



Above they spend 10 minutes working on the whistle, getting the right sound and tone, pressure and duration it seems...

below video isn't on You Tube yet, so I can't embed it, but it's on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/UPSteamClub/permalink/1439843116162997 and  https://www.facebook.com/groups/UPSteamClub/permalink/1439822466165062/  and you can see the 4014 moving out of the barn and onto the rails under her own power

https://www.torringtontelegram.com/article/big-boy-steam-locomotive-almost-ready-for-its-big-day

Why is it that we're a month away from Union Pacific's Big Boy 4014 getting out and rolling under it's own pressure, but the most recent update video is 2 months old? Do they realize they can record a video, and post it online, in 5 minutes, on the same day, in the same hour?

Union Pacific said Wednesday steam shop crews lit a fire in Big Boy 4-8-8-4 No. 4014 for the first time in 60 years on April 9. It was the first time the engine was fired up as an oil burner.

The May 9 ceremony will feature Union Pacific's iconic steam locomotives, Living Legend No. 844 and Big Boy No. 4014. The two will meet, recreating the historic image taken at Promontory Summit on May 10, 1869. The Big Boy is one of eight left in the world. It's newly refurbished and the only one in operation. Following the steam meet, Union Pacific Chairman, President and CEO Lance Fritz and Utah Gov. Gary Herbert will be joined by Margaret Yee and Sandy Dodge to tap a ceremonial spike. Yee's ancestors were among thousands of Chinese immigrants who forged the transcontinental railroad for Central Pacific. Dodge is a descendent of Gen. Grenville Dodge, Civil War veteran and Union Pacific's chief engineer during construction.

The steam locomotives will remain on display at Ogden Union Station until May 12, when they return home to the Steam Shop in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

No Big Boy locomotive has run under its own power since 1959, and its restoration is unprecedented in the annals of American steam locomotive preservation.

https://www.up.com/media/releases/190410-150th-anniversary-celebration.htm
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2018/12/13-big-boy-4014-gets-drivers-up-asks-for-ptc-waivers-for-three-steam-locomotives

Big Boy 4014 restoration nearly complete, hydro testing is in progress

https://www.up.com/aboutup/community/inside_track/steam-update-1-29-2019.htm
https://www.facebook.com/groups/4014BigBoy/permalink/2510977955638898/

this is just cool to watch and listen to

nice slow up close look at a Union Pacific Challenger, the 3985

Found on http://trainfanatics.com/union-pacific-railroad-challenger-no-3985-up-close/

there is going to be a restoration, of the Santa Fe Chief, Alco PA 59. Built in 1948, repaired in 1975 and sold to Mexico, repatriated by the Smithsonian in 2000

here's what she looked like fresh and clean

not too clean, nor fresh.

an assembly photo when they were installing the engine

Here is what it looks like now... and they are ready to get to work on a restoration. It's sister was restored by expert Doyle McKormack

and that proves it can be done, http://www.nkp190.com/  and Doyle is ready and willing to help out a lot... and the Association of Tourist Railroads and Railway Museums is on the case and the locomotive is at the Frisco Texas new Museum of the American Railroad just North of Dallas. They are building a new restoration facility and museum, and have some really cool trains

they have a Big Boy,

and 10 Pullman cars, Frisco 4-8-4 No. 4501, Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 No. 4903, Union Pacific Big Boy No. 4018, UP Centennial diesel No. 6913, and Santa Fe doodlebug No. M160.

http://www.museumoftheamericanrailroad.org/Visit/InformationandDirections.aspx

http://cs.trains.com/trn/b/staff/archive/2014/11/24/about-that-other-alco-pa-santa-fe-59l-in-texas.aspx
https://www.facebook.com/AlcoPARestoration

Some info about the Big Boy locomotives

The Big Boys were 132 feet long and weighed 1.2 million pounds (engine and tender) in working order.

the 4014’s 14-wheel tender can hold 24,000 gallons of water and 28 tons (56,000 pounds) of coal.

The drive wheels in this locomotive class are 68“ tall, that's 5 feet 8 inches.

If a Big Boy was stood upright, it would be approximately as tall as a thirteen story building.

The Big Boy class measured just short of 133 feet long, weighed 1,208,750 pounds, averaged about 6,100 horsepower at speed.

For additional comparison purposes, the most powerful diesel engine was the EMD DDA40X, with 6600 horsepower. This class was also the longest and heaviest, at 98 feet and 521,980 pounds.

The longest class of locomotive ever built was the Norfolk and Western’s “Jawn Henry” steam- electric turbine prototype, which measured in at a massive 166 feet.

the Jawn Henry

The Chesapeak and Ohio’s M1 turbine, was a close contender, at 154 feet in length, and going by measurements in which the boiler is assumed to be full, but the tender is assumed to be empty, the CandO M1 at 1,233,970 pounds class is the heaviest steam locomotive.

the M1

 as was as the Pennsylvania Railroad’s failed S1 class at slightly more than 140 feet.

By these measurements, the Big Boy lacked 33 feet on the Jawn Henry class and come in fourth in terms of length. However, the three longest models were all prototypes. The railroads that owned them ordered only a handful of each class, and assigned them to very limited road service. In contrast, the Union Pacific ordered twenty five Big Boys, and used each of them frequently.

Going by measurements in which the boiler is assumed to be full, but the tender is assumed to be empty, the C&O M1 at 1,233,970 pounds class is the heaviest steam locomotive. The Big Boy class came in second, closely tailed by the Virginian AG “Allegenhy" class at 1,195,000 pounds.
http://www.friendsoftheflange.com/2014/11/bigger-boys.html#more
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_turbine_locomotive

Last of the Giants, the Union Pacific Big Boy

Union Pacific brings one home for refurbishment and restoration, #4014, one of the giants of trains "#4014 return home 2014)

The plan is to have the #4014 Big Boy lead special excursions across the Great West by 2019 for the 150th anniversary of the driving of the Golden Spike in Utah which marked the link between the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific to create the first transcontinental railroad.

Thanks to Case for letting me know about this video!

The other cars in this are heritage fleet support cars, and here's a link http://www.uprr.com/newsinfo/attachments/media_kit/steam/844_support.pdf  that gives some info about the "Howard Fogg"

The Howard Fogg is Union Pacific’s last boiler car. It was built in 1949 by American Car and Foundry as baggage-dormitory No. 6006.

 The Howard Fogg was converted to boiler-baggage-dorm No. 304 in 1962.
 The car was converted to boiler-dorm-HEP (Head End Power) in 2000.
 It was renumbered again in 1987 to No. 209 and assigned to the Heritage Fleet in 1990.

In 1996, it was renamed Howard Fogg after the passing of the renowned railroad artist.

 The Howard Fogg still has a steam generator on board to provide steam if maintenance is required while locomotives No. 844 and No. 3985 are on the road. The car has been outfitted with an electric generator

The Art Lockmann was built in 1962 by the St. Louis Car Company as baggage car No. 6334. It was one of the last baggage cars purchased by Union Pacific.

The car was converted to a tool car for snowplow service and renumbered No. 904304 in 1973.
It was assigned to the Heritage Fleet in 1981.

 The car was named Art Lockman in 1992 and was renumbered UPP 6334 in 2003. The Art Lockman is a rolling “machine shop”. It carries tools, parts, machines, lubricants and numerous other items to maintain and repair the steam locomotives while on trips. The car also has a crew lounge area, locker room and laundry area.

Mr. Lockman retired as roundhouse foreman in Cheyenne, Wyoming, after working 43 years for Union Pacific. He is a well-known former employee who is still admired for his knowledge of steam locomotive maintenance and operation.


The Lynn Nystrom was built in 1957 by American Car & Foundry as postal storage car No. 5714. It was rebuilt as a baggage/recreation car for ski train service between Los Angeles, California; Sun Valley, Idaho; and Park City, Utah.

The car was renamed the Pony Express in 1993 to commemorate a Union Pacific train of the same name that ran between Denver, Colorado, and Salt Lake City, Utah, from August 1926 to November 1954.

And this is very cool, someone drove alongside for a while and paced it on the highway


You may even want to see the local tv station coverage: http://www.kgwn.tv/news/wyoming/headlines/Big-Boy-4014-comes-to-Cheyenne-258554061.html

Now it has a Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Union-Pacific-4014-restoration-BIG-BOY/455623014535432

the 4014 Union Pacific Big Boy heading for an overhaul! (will be in Las Vegas tonight, and on Wednesday April 30th)

I bet this is the first time in decades a Big Boy has been on the rails across country

Thanks Steve!

Union Pacific has begun restoration process by reaquiring a Big Boy (4-8-8-4), #4014 that has been in Pomona Ca since 1961

Photo by Chris Stark who drove his 1941 Cadillac down to the Pomona fairgrounds (Wally Park Museum/Grand National Roadster Show/LA Roadster show location)  to take this photo of his car with a Big Boy locomotive.... a rare opportunity. Both were made in 1941

They have to move the locomotive about 5,000 feet to join a live Metrolink track, and that will necessitate a few back-and-forth movements to get it aligned with the live track. As of today it has been moved about 1,500 feet. The wheels and bearings have already been inspected, so the first thing UP will do is move it to the Colton yard and put it over a pit to examine everything in detail.

No. 4014 will be restored to operating condition by Union Pacific’s Cheyenne, Wyo.-based Heritage Fleet Operations within the next five years. 4014 will join UP’s two other famous steam locomotives—4-6-6-4 Challenger 3985 and 4-8-4 Northern 844—in excursion service when her restoration is completed. She will become the world’s largest operational steam locomotive.

In July 2013, UP announced that it had reached an agreement with the Southern California Chapter of the Railway &  Locomotive Historical Society in Pomona, Calif., to transfer ownership of 4014 back to UP. The railroad will relocate 4014 to Cheyenne, where the Heritage Fleet Operations team will begin restoration, including a fuel conversion to No. 5 oil

Twenty-five Big Boys were built exclusively for Union Pacific by the American Locomotive Company (Alco) between 1941 and 1944

The Big Boys were 132 feet long and weighed 1.2 million pounds (engine and tender) in working order.
4014’s 14-wheel tender can hold 24,000 gallons of water and 28 tons (56,000 pounds) of coal.

UP donated eight Big Boys for public display to several U.S. cities—Pomona; St. Louis, Mo. (No. 4006, Museum of Transportation); Dallas, Tex. (No. 4018, Museum of the American Railroad); Omaha, Neb. (No. 4023, Kenefick Park); Denver, Colo. (No. 4005, Forney Transportation Museum); Scranton, Pa. (No. 4012, Steamtown National Historic Site); Green Bay, Wis. (No. 4017, National Railroad Museum); and Cheyenne (No. 4004, Holliday Park) http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/mechanical/locomotives/up-a-return-to-steam-for-big-boy-4014.html?channel=