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UP Big Boy 4014 coming to Texas next month

UTCzech III

By UTCzech III
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clapclapclap

clapclapclap 9000

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On 11/5/2019 at 1:56 PM, UnivTex34 said:

I'm pretty sure @Anton Chigurh got some pics of it out west.  

No Country for Old Trains 

So glad I got talked into seeing the engine, it really is big.  Twice as long as the diesel engine behind it.  And loud, bring earmuffs for the little ones.  Go to a railroad crossing where you can see it moving at speed and blowing its whistle, then catch up to it at a stop, where you can talk to the crew.  It's impressive seeing it up close, but watching it on the move is next level.  Kind of like watching the Blue Angels roar on a low fly by.

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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31355

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37 minutes ago, Anton Chigurh said:

 


Oil, now. Lots have been converted to oil burners because they don’t emit the cinders that can catch stuff on fire.

 

Weird fact.  Most pre- and post-war steam locos that were designed to burn coal were converted to oil during their original service life in the post-war period. UP 844, above, built in 1944 for coal, was converted to oil in 1946.

UP 4014 wasn't converted to oil until 2016.  One Big Boy was converted to oil in 1946, but the conversion was unsuccessful because the firebox was just too big.  So they stayed coal, which probably wasn't a big deal because they were devoted to service over the Wasatch Range, where I suspect coal was plentiful.

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UTCzech III

UTCzech III 2903

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21 minutes ago, clapclapclap said:

No Country for Old Trains 

So glad I got talked into seeing the engine, it really is big.  Twice as long as the diesel engine behind it.  And loud, bring earmuffs for the little ones.  Go to a railroad crossing where you can see it moving at speed and blowing its whistle, then catch up to it at a stop, where you can talk to the crew.  It's impressive seeing it up close, but watching it on the move is next level.  Kind of like watching the Blue Angels roar on a low fly by.

Yeah, that's my plan.  Gonna catch it first a few miles south of Hearne out in the country, moving, then drive up and wait for it to pull into Jewett, where it has a 30 min. stop, get some video and pics of it taking off, then zoom ahead and wait for it in Palestine.  

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UTCzech III

UTCzech III 2903

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Well fuck, went to edit my post and realized I somehow lost my tree-fiddy membership, (which is weird because I was just charged last week...)

anyway, what I was GOING to add, was:

ETA: cool beans, just read that the George Bush locomotive 4141 will be part of the consist all the way up to Palestine, so I'll get to see that as well!

Edited by UTCzech III
new shit has come to light...
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Patricio Swayze

Patricio Swayze 17058

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So I decided to try and get a sunset shot of it coming in through the Eureka junction (where the old MKT yard is).  Schedule said 7PM, but it got there around 5:15. I knew I wouldn't be the only one and when I pulled up there was about 15 people and by the time Big Boy rolled through, probably 40 and a helicopter overhead.  Right as it was about to make the turn to head SE towards Washington Ave., another train coming from the other direction pulling a bunch of rock cars approached.  You could hear everyone freaking out that it was going to block the view of Big Boy, but it cleared out just as it made the turn.  I had hoped it would have passed by after the sun dipped below the trees as I knew this angle would be hard to shoot.  I didn't get that lucky, so I am not really happy with my photos.  But really, the shot I want will be on Friday and I hope that it works out AND there is a ton of steam coming out of the engine.  Anyways, here are a few of the shots.

49027247137_2ccacd8d4c_b.jpg

49027249367_fef2d0202c_b.jpg

49027038591_a46c4a0137_b.jpg

49027039281_c789b3140f_b.jpg

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otisdog

otisdog 365

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23 hours ago, Shoxthemonkey said:

 

I'm pretty sure it was BigBoy that came through my hometown 20 years or so ago and stopped right outside my office for a couple of hours. 

Nope. This BigBoy has only been running since around June.  Prior to that they last ran in the late '50's. What you probably saw was UP 3985, a 4-6-6-4, which looks similar but has 2 less driving axles.  Parts of 3985 were canniblized to make 4014 functional, including the tender. Rumor has it that 3985 will never run again.

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Shoxthemonkey

Shoxthemonkey 1976

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You are correct. I'm trying to find the cellphone pictures that I took to confirm the engine number. As I recall, the Great Plains Transportation Museum in Wichita brought it in to help celebrate their Grand Opening. They gave rides from Wichita to Herington and back with stops in several of the small communities along the way.

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Patricio Swayze

Patricio Swayze 17058

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Swayze, their all good shots but the B&W is next level.

Thanks. I honestly wasn’t that happy with them because of the lighting, but after editing I warmed up a bit.

I tried to go by and see the engine after lunch, but it is raining like crazy. So I will wait until tomorrow and hope I can get a good skyline/engine shot.
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Macanudo

Macanudo 12945

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1 hour ago, Patricio Swayze said:


Thanks. I honestly wasn’t that happy with them because of the lighting, but after editing I warmed up a bit.

I tried to go by and see the engine after lunch, but it is raining like crazy. So I will wait until tomorrow and hope I can get a good skyline/engine shot.

What time is it supposed to leave tomorrow?

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MFEU93MK9S8IW6K6FV0X

MFEU93MK9S8IW6K6FV0X 95

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Yeah, the ground sloped up away from the train and I was on the highest spot up against a fence.  I just held my phone as high as I could.  There was this one dude taking pics with an old school large format film camera, you know the kind where you put a sheet over your head to look through the viewfinder.  People gave him all kinds of space.  

Edited by MFEU93MK9S8IW6K6FV0X
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Wally Pryor

Wally Pryor 5252

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18 hours ago, Patricio Swayze said:

So I decided to try and get a sunset shot of it coming in through the Eureka junction (where the old MKT yard is).  Schedule said 7PM, but it got there around 5:15. I knew I wouldn't be the only one and when I pulled up there was about 15 people and by the time Big Boy rolled through, probably 40 and a helicopter overhead.  Right as it was about to make the turn to head SE towards Washington Ave., another train coming from the other direction pulling a bunch of rock cars approached.  You could hear everyone freaking out that it was going to block the view of Big Boy, but it cleared out just as it made the turn.  I had hoped it would have passed by after the sun dipped below the trees as I knew this angle would be hard to shoot.  I didn't get that lucky, so I am not really happy with my photos.  But really, the shot I want will be on Friday and I hope that it works out AND there is a ton of steam coming out of the engine.  Anyways, here are a few of the shots.

49027247137_2ccacd8d4c_b.jpg

49027249367_fef2d0202c_b.jpg

49027038591_a46c4a0137_b.jpg

49027039281_c789b3140f_b.jpg

Fantastic.

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Anton Chigurh

Anton Chigurh 3319

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Yeah, the ground sloped up away from the train and I was on the highest spot up against a fence.  I just held my phone as high as I could.  There was this one dude taking pics with an old school large format film camera, you know the kind where you put a sheet over your head to look through the viewfinder.  People gave him all kinds of space.  


I saw this lady with a Yashica TLR. a9ba83e323c3d0702fac85245e3cedd3.jpg

But yeah, it’s hard to get close without people in it. I actually had someone who yelled at me to move when I went to catch it as it went by. I wasn’t really in his way, and there was already a truck close to me, but I guess he didn’t expect anyone to want to get closer than 100 feet away from the track, cause his spot sucked.
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tokamak

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Is the diesel running?  I mean I'm sure it's idling, but is it pulling?

Consensus view on Reddit seems to be that the diesel is not pulling. Seen people saying that it's there to provide braking, electric power for the passenger cars, and as a backup in case of problems.
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RPM

RPM 26267

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2 hours ago, tokamak said:


Consensus view on Reddit seems to be that the diesel is not pulling. Seen people saying that it's there to provide braking, electric power for the passenger cars, and as a backup in case of problems.

That's normally the routine on steam excursions. Ruins the look, but safety first.

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otisdog

otisdog 365

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  Interesting that the engineer ignored the standard safety protocol at the beginning of  MFEU93's "pulling away" video above. There is a 'blue flag' marker hanging on the window sill towards the front. The blue flag denotes that the engine is being attended to by various service people, and each of the service people hangs their personal service ID on the marker to show that they are working on the engine.  As the individual completes his job, he removes his ID from the blue flag. Once there are no more ID's hanging on the blue flag, it is removed. Once it is removed, the train can begin its movement.

  But in this instance, the engineer removes the flag whilst there are at least two ID's visible on it. This is a serious protocol violation, and would at least result in a suspension in the "real"  world of train employment. The steam program isn't supposed to be an exception.

Edited by otisdog
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Pato del Muerto

Pato del Muerto 52395

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2 hours ago, otisdog said:

  Interesting that the engineer ignored the standard safety protocol at the beginning of  MFEU93's "pulling away" video above. There is a 'blue flag' marker hanging on the window sill towards the front. The blue flag denotes that the engine is being attended to by various service people, and each of the service people hangs their personal service ID on the marker to show that they are working on the engine.  As the individual completes his job, he removes his ID from the blue flag. Once there are no more ID's hanging on the blue flag, it is removed. Once it is removed, the train can begin its movement.

  But in this instance, the engineer removes the flag whilst there are at least two ID's visible on it. This is a serious protocol violation, and would at least result in a suspension in the "real"  world of train employment. The steam program isn't supposed to be an exception.

Sounds like they need to move towards a more modern lock out/tag out system. 
 

one would think a steam engine of that size would produce enough steam to turn a generator for passenger car electricity, but that might require some unwanted retrofitting. Couldn’t they put the diesel at the end of the train instead of right behind the steam locomotive, if all it is for is juice and a safety?

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Fuck Tim Beck

Fuck Tim Beck 3812

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2 hours ago, otisdog said:

  Interesting that the engineer ignored the standard safety protocol at the beginning of  MFEU93's "pulling away" video above. There is a 'blue flag' marker hanging on the window sill towards the front. The blue flag denotes that the engine is being attended to by various service people, and each of the service people hangs their personal service ID on the marker to show that they are working on the engine.  As the individual completes his job, he removes his ID from the blue flag. Once there are no more ID's hanging on the blue flag, it is removed. Once it is removed, the train can begin its movement.

  But in this instance, the engineer removes the flag whilst there are at least two ID's visible on it. This is a serious protocol violation, and would at least result in a suspension in the "real"  world of train employment. The steam program isn't supposed to be an exception.

Sound like this really has you .........steamed. 

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otisdog

otisdog 365

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52 minutes ago, Anton Chigurh said:

I read that the diesel loco isn’t for the passenger cars. Big Boy has an alternator. It’s just for braking and just in case propulsion.

Big Boy has two steam generators (dynamos), but they only supply enough power to cover the on board comms and the running /  headlights.

The power for the rest of the train comes from a power car, which is a converted baggage car with a diesel powered electric generator. There have been two different power cars used on this trip.

Edited by otisdog
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TwiceHorn

TwiceHorn 31355

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1 hour ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Sounds like they need to move towards a more modern lock out/tag out system. 
 

one would think a steam engine of that size would produce enough steam to turn a generator for passenger car electricity, but that might require some unwanted retrofitting. Couldn’t they put the diesel at the end of the train instead of right behind the steam locomotive, if all it is for is juice and a safety?

Passenger trains had electric power when 4014 went into service.  It has one or more steam-powered alternators for that purpose.

And, I think one of the main reasons for the diesel-electric is to provide backup traction in case the steam locomotive breaks down.  For that purpose it is better located at the front.

Or what otisdog said.  I'll take his word.  Was a power car a standard thing in the steam days?

Funny thing, electric power was first provided on a per-car basis by axle-turned dynamos charging batteries.  By the mid 20th century or so, it was 480V three phase pretty similar to what's on the pole outside your house.

Edited by TwiceHorn
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MFEU93MK9S8IW6K6FV0X

MFEU93MK9S8IW6K6FV0X 95

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6 hours ago, otisdog said:

  Interesting that the engineer ignored the standard safety protocol at the beginning of  MFEU93's "pulling away" video above. There is a 'blue flag' marker hanging on the window sill towards the front. The blue flag denotes that the engine is being attended to by various service people, and each of the service people hangs their personal service ID on the marker to show that they are working on the engine.  As the individual completes his job, he removes his ID from the blue flag. Once there are no more ID's hanging on the blue flag, it is removed. Once it is removed, the train can begin its movement.

  But in this instance, the engineer removes the flag whilst there are at least two ID's visible on it. This is a serious protocol violation, and would at least result in a suspension in the "real"  world of train employment. The steam program isn't supposed to be an exception.

I have video of him putting the blue flag out too.  I need to go back and find it, but from what I remember he threw a bunch of tags down and at various times the maintenance dudes tossed tags back up.  They also showed the tags to a bunch of bystanders.  I was a bit confused as to what was going on with the tags but assumed each one represented a task that needed to be done.

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Chooky

Chooky 13304

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6 minutes ago, MFEU93MK9S8IW6K6FV0X said:

I have video of him putting the blue flag out too.  I need to go back and find it, but from what I remember he threw a bunch of tags down and at various times the maintenance dudes tossed tags back up.  They also showed the tags to a bunch of bystanders.  I was a bit confused as to what was going on with the tags but assumed each one represented a task that needed to be done.

Username never, ever checks out.

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Macanudo

Macanudo 12945

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Met up with Swayze just north of downtown off Collingsworth and watched Big Boy head north.   I'm not a train guy but something just made me want to see this. 

Very cool seeing this giant beast of machinery driving up the tracks.   Didnt have my camera with me and only got some phone pics that I will try and post later.  Thought I could hit the Hardy Toll Road up to Spring for the next stop but lots of nerds were doing the same thing and really slowing traffic down.  When I got to Spring (Old Town Elm Street), traffic and parking was crazy.  I gave up on finding another vantage point and just watched from afar.   

Still very cool to see. 

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Patricio Swayze

Patricio Swayze 17058

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So like Mac was saying, we got to meet up and see Big Boy roll north from downtown.  I was disappointed that it started to rain and I didn't take the chance of flying my drone in the rain.  I'll post an image from the drone that I had hoped would be similar to what I wanted to get with Big Boy.  I am still just "so-so" on the photos I got.  I have edited these two, one for perspective and one a bit more of a close up.  Because of the overcast weather, I think black and white looks best.

49035249013_05d231ac02_b.jpg

49036098692_1c05a525bd_b.jpg

49036099287_0146c2361e_b.jpg

I regret not driving out to the Pecos bridge.

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Patricio Swayze

Patricio Swayze 17058

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The best part of those shots is Swayze wanting Big Boy to be blowing steam and he was but it really obscured downtown. 
Overall...  way worth it. 


It’s like all the women I have been with asking for me to blow my load, but be careful what you ask for. Hahaha.

I have a few shots with more of the skyline. I may edit later.
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