UP Big Boy 4014 coming to Texas next month

[otisdog 365]

24 minutes ago, TwiceHorn said:

 

Why?  What were you doing in there?

See post # 121 in this thread.

[RPM 26268]

Talking with one of my supervisors this morning that's about 25 years younger than me. Asked him if he was going to take his kids to see Big Boy when it's in Ft. Worth. He had no idea what that was and seemed unimpressed with going to see a steam engine until I pulled up a pic. When he saw why they called it Big Boy he went "Holy Shit!" He will be taking the kids to see it now.

[TwiceHorn 31356]

1 hour ago, otisdog said:

See post # 121 in this thread.

Well, I stuck my head in all of the open fireboxes in the locos at the State Fair, if that counts.

Shit like this, and ships and planes, is why I became an ME.  It's kind of ironic how much time we spent studying steam considering it is obsolescent, but it gave me a new appreciation for locomotives and steam turbines and whatnot.

Edited July 24, 2021 by TwiceHorn

[NotActuallyALonghorn 4968]

Steam may be becoming obsolescent for locomotion, but it is still very much used for plenty of things, from industrial heating to power generation.

[RPM 26268]

2 minutes ago, NotActuallyALonghorn said:

Steam may be becoming obsolescent for locomotion, but it is still very much used for plenty of things, from industrial heating to power generation.

Nukes don't magically create electricity or propulsion.

Live steam, sleepy steam.

[TwiceHorn 31356]

Hence obsolescent, rather than obsolete.

[ROFL BOX 6647]

When I said "been inside", I meant more than up to your shoulders.

When I was in HS, I was a "Junior Member" of the Gold Coast Railroad Museum, located on the N side of Fort Lauderdale airport.

Their steam loco was donated by US Sugar & used to run the sugarcane fields in / around Lake Okeechobee.

Small kid + small space + an air compressor & needle scaler = "get on in there".

Unfortunately there are cracks in that engine that I don't think will ever get fully repaired.

The GCRR relocated to Miami not far from MetroZoo (former US Navy facility for blimps) & I was part of the move S. Rode all the way down on the last car, the Ferdinand Magellan - Presidential railcar used by Roosevelt & Truman (famous "Dewey Defeats Truman" pic was taken with Truman on the back) & Reagan for his whistle stop tour in '84.

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

[futureman 22435]

2 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Hence obsolescent, rather than obsolete.

[otisdog 365]

2 hours ago, ROFL BOX said:

When I said "been inside", I meant more than up to your shoulders.

Aktually, I was all the way in. I was asked to move a couple of the lights, so I crawled across the grates. I didn't want post #121 to seem boastful, I wanted to portray the emotion of the guy who maintained 4014 for all those years, and the ironic, bittersweet loss of "his engine", chosen because it was in the best shape of the remaining Big Boys, due to his efforts.


 

 

[Da Fino 2745]

https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/schedule/index.htm

https://www.up.com/forms/steam-trace.cfm

 

Coming down this weekend. 

[UTCzech III 2903]

Gettin' close.  I'm probably gonna go see it Monday morning as it heads out of Hearne south toward aggy and Navasota.  

Found some really cool video from inside the cab, man, would love to sit inside there for an hour or two...

 

[UTCzech III 2903]

This page has a great video as well, it's facebook but you might be able to see it without an account, pretty aweseome as well, they are highballin'.

That Steam Guy

[RPM 26268]

In Fort Worth today (Saturday) from 9a - 3p.

[davidg 4034]

Choo, choo, mutherfucker!

 

 

[UTCzech III 2903]

 

Not the greatest video, had an 18 wheeler coming up behind me on the road I was standing on… csb just found out the lady in the cab behind the fireman is my cousin, super aggy (her husband is the mayor of College Station..) apparently her son arranged for them to ride down to aggyville 

 

 

Edited August 16, 2021 by UTCzech III
eff it, video won't upload properly (seems to work on mobile), but it was cool

[Nice Guy Eddie 13421]

for anyone that wants to see it in motion around Houston later today, here is a live map of it's location: https://www.up.com/forms/steam-trace.cfm

[Pato del Muerto 52397]

With everyone so far away in the videos you don’t really get a sense of scale. It looks half the size it really is. 

[Nice Guy Eddie 13421]

Decent # of people lined up along Hempstead Hwy in Houston.

[mycox 582]

Edited August 16, 2021 by mycox
Shitty pixilated video and zoomed in too much

[Jimbaround 973]

With everyone so far away in the videos you don’t really get a sense of scale. It looks half the size it really is. 

We saw it come by right near B&B Butchers. I look at the video I took and it just doesn’t do justice to how big it is.

[Guest Lobo]

I can tell it's about 80-90 feet in length but what does the locomotive itself weigh with a full load of fuel?  Gotta be a half million pounds?  

[Jimbaround 973]

I can tell it's about 80-90 feet in length but what does the locomotive itself weigh with a full load of fuel?  Gotta be a half million pounds?  

Total weight 4884-1: 1,189,500 lb
(539,500 kg)
4884-2: 1,208,750 lb

From Wikipedia.

[Guest Lobo]

Holy shit.  over a million pounds?  

I should start stopping at railroad crossings.  

[davidg 4034]

132’ long including the tender. The drive wheels are almost 6’ tall.

[Anton Chigurh 3319]

I missed Big Boy this year, but here are a few shots from 2019 showing scale somewhat.

[UTCzech III 2903]

Not coming to Texas, but Big Boy is leaving tomorrow to head to Omaha for the CWS.  So hopefully if the Horns make it, go check out some Big Iron.  Video from a test run yesterday:

 

[Macanudo 12945]

When it leaves Omaha and crosses into Iowa and back into Nebraska, there will be some great photo ops as it crosses the Missouri River.  Not like there won't be awesome shots to be had all along that route.

[Shoxthemonkey 1976]

Looks like I have a roadtrip in my future.

[Homercles 10205]

Makes perfect sense to stop in North Platte, but wow what a full-circle moment to stop in (assuming) that insanely huge yard complex they have there.  

[elfenix 34205]

Called into action

 

 

https://www.thedrive.com/news/watch-the-retired-big-boy-steam-train-rescue-a-stalled-freight-train-in-nebraska

 

[Francisco 2.0 32355]

In 2021, a few months before Dad passed away, Big Boy came to a town near where he and mom live.  They went out that morning to see it.   Dad texted me a few photos that he took.

I had forgotten that I have dad's iphone, and remembered that there might be some photos on there.  I charged it up and copied some of the photos he had taken that day.

 

 

 

Edited July 12, 2023 by Francisco 2.0

[Nice Guy Eddie 13421]

19 hours ago, Francisco 2.0 said:

 

Gallagher about to smash some watermelons?

[YGIFS 19449]

thank you for saying that!  Been bugging me all day 'cause for all I knew, the bald dude in the tulsa tuxedo was his dad's brother or best friend or some shit.  

Happy for your Dad Francisco in that he was still doing cool shit up until the end.  Going to see bygone era trains, building model railroads, visiting old railyards...it was a pastime my Dad and I enjoyed in my youth.  I do a little of it now with my oldest and she's taken to it (old steamer in Bertram and some similar hill country flyer deal).  I'd still love to take her to see the Big Boy one day.  Guess we'll settle for the light rail to nowhere in the interim.  

[butthurt 1521]

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CucZOn6Ak4W/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

 

[Da Fino 2745]

Just a heads up for anyone wanting to show their kids another steam locomotive. Not the big boy, but still a cool thing to see in person. This one is about to pass through Texas on it's way to Mexico from Canada. https://www.cpkcr.com/en/community/final-spike-steam-train 

 

[RPM 26268]

Too bad I don't live in Refugio anymore. That will be a helluva photo op.

[UTCzech III 2903]

3 hours ago, Da Fino said:

Just a heads up for anyone wanting to show their kids another steam locomotive. Not the big boy, but still a cool thing to see in person. This one is about to pass through Texas on it's way to Mexico from Canada. https://www.cpkcr.com/en/community/final-spike-steam-train 

 

Yeah, May 25 it is traveling from Shreveport to Kendleton, and then on Memorial Day it is moving from Kendleton to Laredo.  I can't make either of those, but I think June 12 is when it starts the trip back north and goes from Laredo back to Kendleton.  Have a ton of kin folk down that way, El Campo, Wharton, Louise, so plan to make a day of it and find a good spot to film and get some pics.  Sweet engine, plus those two diesel EMDs, love those.

 

[Da Fino 2745]

[RPM 26268]

I need to find the route. It might come right by my house again.

[YGIFS 19449]

Friday before OU game in Fort Worth.  Can’t tell yet which direction it’s coming from Houston though.  Theee different ways.  

[RPM 26268]

5 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

Three different ways.

Hence the need to see the map. It's come past my house several years ago. It could also take the line through Decatur. Or it could come from a different direction.

[RPM 26268]

 

[YGIFS 19449]

Any route updates?  I don’t see anything in the main website, but I’ll betting there’s an aficionado message board some of y’all have access to.  

[Da Fino 2745]

On 6/20/2024 at 9:28 AM, YGIFS said:

Friday before OU game in Fort Worth.  Can’t tell yet which direction it’s coming from Houston though.  Theee different ways.  

Through aggyland and rape u. 

[YGIFS 19449]

I don’t know that rail line, but she doesn’t quite fetching.  

[Da Fino 2745]

15 minutes ago, YGIFS said:

I don’t know that rail line, but she doesn’t quite fetching.  

It will go in the most direct line from houston to Fort Worth. Then in Dallas for the game. 

[Braff Zacklin 13481]

On 7/3/2024 at 6:48 PM, YGIFS said:

Any route updates?  I don’t see anything in the main website, but I’ll betting there’s an aficionado message board some of y’all have access to.  

Rolled through SE Idaho this weekend and today. Overnighted in McCammon and should be in Montpelier by now. Some pics and a low-res video taken earlier today by a friend near Bancroft:

 

[UTCzech III 2903]

On 6/20/2024 at 9:39 AM, RPM said:

Hence the need to see the map. It's come past my house several years ago. It could also take the line through Decatur. Or it could come from a different direction.

Choo choo ch-boogie.  Boogie back to Texas.  Schedule and map are out now.  From Hearne to Houston will get two chances to see Big Boy coming and going.

https://www.up.com/heritage/steam/schedule/index.htm

 

 

Edited August 12 by UTCzech III

[RPM 26268]

Damn, won't be coming by my place. 

[UTCzech III 2903]

Just left Boone IA headed east to Cedar Rapids today, should be passing through Ames any time now