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Posted

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.

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Posted (edited)
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 by TwiceHorn
Posted
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.

sand-pebbles-mako-mcqueen.jpg?w=708&h=34

Live steam, sleepy steam.

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Posted

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 '84.371f8212655af48968a3976a8d1d0fd7.jpg

Sent from my SM-G950U1 using Tapatalk

Posted
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.


 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

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...

 

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Posted (edited)

 

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 by UTCzech III
eff it, video won't upload properly (seems to work on mobile), but it was cool
Posted
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.
Posted

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?  

Posted
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.
Posted

Holy shit.  over a million pounds?  

I should start stopping at railroad crossings.  

  • 1 year later...
Posted

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:

 

bb.JPG

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Posted

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.

  • 1 month later...
Posted

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.  

  • 10 months later...
Posted
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 

 

Screenshot 2024-05-23 083837.png

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.

 

  • 4 weeks later...
Posted
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.

  • 2 weeks later...
Posted

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.  

Posted
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. 

Posted
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. 

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  • 3 weeks later...
Posted
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:

 

BigBoy2.jpeg

BigBoy1.jpeg

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  • 3 weeks later...
Posted (edited)
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 by UTCzech III
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