Union Pacific UP Big Boy 4014 Steam

Correction: 85 lb rail on B&M Cheshire branch, not 80 lb.

A working steam loco will weigh more then a dry loco(no supplies on board)
AGAIN, UP 4014 Will never leave UP trackage,so forget about a doubleheader with NW 1214 now inactive!

Backshophoss wrote: ↑Thu Dec 19, 2019 2:24 pm A working steam loco will weigh more then a dry loco(no supplies on board)
AGAIN, UP 4014 Will never leave UP trackage,so forget about a doubleheader with NW 1214 now inactive!

Hasn't it already left UP trackage and gone onto BNSF trackage? Or am I misremembering?

I agree it's unlikely..but:

Everyone, 1960 to 2012: "Will a Big Boy ever be restored to operating condition?"
Everyone, 1960 to 2012: "No, it will never happen."



Scot

mcgrath618 wrote: ↑Mon Jan 27, 2020 2:23 pm Hasn't it already left UP trackage and gone onto BNSF trackage? Or am I misremembering?

It left UP rails, but again, UP facilities had at both ends of where the locomotive was moving, and pre-existing liability insurance coverage on that line.

Going onto foreign rail absent pre-existing trackage rights appears to be a non-starter.

the problem in this case involves a lot of politics, too. UP perfers their steam to run on their lines and nobody else's steam to run on their lines - that translates into not wanting the big boy to have to move on other railroad's tracks. in addition, to get to the east you'll have to negotiate with NS, always forgiving and supportive of preservation programs, and/or CSX

The link will not work

alzubal wrote: ↑Fri Apr 24, 2020 6:06 pm The link will not work

It's a year old, and was probably only for the stops planned last year.

This group seems rather dead.

It seems like every video I see of 4014 since she was put back into steam has her surrounded by big, billowing clouds of it, even at speed. some videos look like there is so much steam coming off of her that forward visibility is essentially zero. I've seen enough working steam locomotives, and many pictures of locomotives working in the day to know that this is abnormal. Why is so much steam being lost to the atmosphere? Are the seals loose? Do they deliberately loosen valves to spew steam ALL THE TIME for any reason other than, hey, it's a STEAM locomotive? Are they trying to make up for the lack of coal smoke now that it's an oil-burner? Is the engineer just clueless on how to conserve their water? Do they just carry so much water that they just don't care? Do the 'suits' just want to see clouds of steam?

Why do you care what they do with their locomotive?......

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I can only imagine that this monster locomotive, 1.2 million pounds worth, needs to run a lot of steam to get and stay moving. A Big Boy is essentially 2 large locomotives in one with a shared boiler.

Yeah, it is a big locomotive. I was wondering if anybody here might have some inside info? I'm suspecting that they are bleeding-off a lot of steam to keep the pressure lower than it was originally designed to run at. It seems that every time they take it out, it's paired with a modern diesel which is well capable to handle the majority of the draw, and that 4014 is there mostly for show, maybe adding a bit of extra pull when needed. A few years ago, UP connected their one working Challenger to a container train solo and got some really good film from that, but so far I haven't seen 4014 pulling anything alone.

I'm guessing that in most ways 4014 is in better shape than when brand new. They do often have a diesel in the consist but I've not heard of it ever being needed to provide motive power. The Big Boys were designed to handle far heavier loads than it has to on tour. I think Ed Dickens would beg to differ from your analysis.

The diesel is only there to provide dynamic braking if needed.