One of the biggest steam locomotives is being restored

[oldskoolpunk]

I  do hope they decide to send him out to the East coast. I'll be one of the first in line to see him.

Union Pacific system map
Union Pacific tends to keep their steam locomotives in their own system. If there was a good enough reason, like the 1976 American Freedom Train, it might happen.

[Miss Indigo Darling]

I  do hope they decide to send him out to the East coast. I'll be one of the first in line to see him.

Union Pacific system map
Union Pacific tends to keep their steam locomotives in their own system. If there was a good enough reason, like the 1976 American Freedom Train, it might happen.

Thanks for the map.
It looks as if I'll need to make a trip back to California to see it. What a wonderful idea! Good Times!

[Kevin1632]

The biggest problem in getting the 4014 back East is the loading gauge, that is the clearance space around the track.

Western Railroads were built with more space around them, than most eastern roads, this has improved with the introduction of "stack trains" (cars with two high shipping containers) which has caused the increase in vertical clearance above the track. None the less the side clearance and the tightness of the curves limit the areas back east that this large locomotive can access.

I can forsee them running it to Chicago, assuming they build something that can turn it around. Locomotives of this size do not run well in reverse, especially at speed. It is a matter of suspension, the wheel arraignment is designed to help the machine around curves. Backwards, the tender can jump the tracks, something that the UP caterpillar tenders are notorious for doing.

Regards,
Kevin

ps  Her is a link to the latest video;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1pcHLz7JZ4

KHE

Amazing. I'd hate to be in charge of the logistics and scheduling for this, though.

Big Boy 4014 finds the Rails M2T

Always use the right tool for the job.

It was done by regular Union Pacific track maintenance forces. So, unlike heritage railroad operations, they had the large staff and specialized equipment to do the time critical part of the job in one night. Once LA Metrorail had shut down for the night, they cut into the Metrorail line, installed and ballasted a connection to their temporary track, and towed out UP 4014. Then they drove in its replacement exhibit, a donated Diesel, boxcar, and caboose. Then all the Metrorail track was restored to its original condition before the next morning. There were no major problems.

The long video above shows the process in more detail than most people will want to watch.

I have to admit, I'm loving the video, the process is fascinating to me. I'm so glad to see  this Big Boy getting a second chance. I  do hope they decide to send him out to the East coast. I'll be one of the first in line to see him.

[oldskoolpunk]

Moving day
The Big Boy's trip back to Cheyenne, Wyoming is underway today. Tonight's stop is UP's railyard in Las Vegas. Thursday it moves to Milford, Utah. Saturday, on display in Salt Lake City. Monday, on display in Ogden, Utah. Thursday morning, on display in Laramie, Wyoming, followed by the move to the UP shops in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

Then, 3 to 5 years of repairs.

[oldskoolpunk]

The Big Boy is in Cheyenne, Wyoming now. No problems during the move.


At the UP yard in Cheyenne

It's reached UP's locomotive shops, where they maintain their other steam locomotives. Now comes the multi-year restoration job.

[Ceir]

Hadn't seen the newest updates - that video is fantastic!

[oldskoolpunk]

Update:

Brake controls rebuild

Many small parts are being replaced. They had to machine many new parts.  Westinghouse Air Brake Company was able to find the original molds for rubber gaskets in the brake stand, and made new gaskets. They have almost all subsystems rebuilt now, including the boiler, and will begin reassembly soon.

Union Pacific wants to get 30 years of operating life out of the Big Boy before they have to do this again. Everything is being rebuilt to new-equipment standards. A lot of new steel is going in. Surfaces exposed to live steam are getting a modern protective coating. UP wants to send the Big Boy out to haul passenger trains for promotions and fan trips. There's no date for its first trip, but it's probably less than a year from first boiler firing.

[Drew P]

 

[Lord Pentecost]

Is the conversion to oil for the EPA?

There are no trackside coaling stations any more. Running on oil, they can take it anywhere on the US rail system. Union Pacific's own track connects most major US cities from Chicago westward, and they'll probably drive this beast all over the system for PR purposes.

So we'll never actually see it under steam?

I'm under the impression the loco is being rebuilt with oil firing in mind.  It'll still be a steam engine. 

Yes but it won't smell the same!

[oldskoolpunk]

Further progress.


UP 4014 in the shop at Cheyenne, WY.

Restoration of UP 4014 was delayed while the UP Steam Shop did a major overhaul on UP 844.  UP 844 is now out of the shop and pulling special trains for railfans. Its most recent trip was Cheyenne Frontier Days last month.

Now they can concentrate on UP 4014. They're already done a lot of preliminary work on small parts. (Well, "small" by locomotive scale.) There's some parts commonality between the two locomotives; they use a very similar brass brake stand, and so those were overhauled together.

Video of brake stand overhaul.

[oldskoolpunk]

Progress on the restoration continues.


The Big Boy, dismantled for repair.


Some new parts already fabricated.

Union Pacific is working to fully restore the locomotive to main-line operating standards, after which it will be used to pull excursion trains. They've already done that with UP 844, which has many parts in common with the Big Boy. Completion is still maybe 2 years away.

[Banfili]

The engineering is really phenomenal!

Alas, the last broad gauge steam train ran from Melbourne to Wodonga several years ago (I have photos), after which the broad gauge track was ripped up. The Victorian government doesn't tend to run long distance steam trains on mainlines any more, which is a real pity. New South Wales can still run steam - had a visit from the Flying Scotsman a few years ago.

[BaronVonBoiler]

I am eagerly awaiting the completion of this project. I have not ventured to the western States, but 4014 might persuade me to do so.

[James Harrison]

Lovely!

[oldskoolpunk]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4IFyI2cxl4
The Union Pacific steam shop is plugging away repairing the Big Boy. This video is about replacing some of the major parts of the articulation mechanism between the two engine sections. New forgings were required.

UP says they expect to have it running in 2018.

[yereverluvinunclebert]

The Diesel locomotive doing the towing tows over a million pounds of locomotive...

Never understood why Americans weigh heavy things in very small units of measurement, a locomotive in pounds, why not ounces? Do you also drive in inches per hour? or state your height in sixteenths of an inch?

That aside, it is an fugly locomotive, all the gubbins on display on the outside.

This is about as ugly as our big old locos get...



Most of the gubbins is hidden making a more pleasant view. Granted that big black American thing is impressive though.

[oldskoolpunk]

Big Boy suspension, after restoration

Completion is in sight. Union Pacific wants it running by May 10, 2019, for the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad.

[The Bullet]

Gubbins on the outside are good for maintenance.
Adjusting a slide valve: no problem.
Adjusting the left slide valve of my 5" gauge Super Claud is a boiler-off job.
so I prefer the stuff on the accessible side of the frames.....

[yereverluvinunclebert]

Oh yes, easy for maintenance but bad for looks and even worse for aerodynamics. The faired-in approach ruled in the end.

[The Bullet]

...but bad for looks

I cannot agree as I like the view when running a steamer.
Nothing better than slowly going uphill with a long train behind the tender enjoying the sound and watching the rode move as we go.

[oldskoolpunk]

Back in 2014, I posted a message about the restoration of this locomotive.  Union Pacific planned a full rebuild to mainline operating standards.

Five years later, it's done.

First test run of UP 4014, today.

This weekend, it goes out to Ogden, Utah for the 150th anniversary of the Transcontinental Railroad.
Lots of chances to see it if you're in Wyoming. After that, the locomotive will be pulling various excursion trains.

[Banfili]

Oh, proper job - that is just splendid!

[Deimos]

Not too far from me....may toddle up there to check it out....

[James Harrison]

Many congratulations.  Splendid. 

[yereverluvinunclebert]

When I was in South Africa in 1982-1985 locomotives of this sort were still in mainline service hauling heavy loads all around SA. I was lucky to come across a British-built Class 15F trying to push a heavily-laden coal train around a bend at a slight incline. It was able to move the train by slowly teasing the coal wagons up the incline but each time the slack was taken up and the real weight of the train was encountered the wheels would slip, huge amounts of steam/smoke would be released up the stack and the train would not move. This went on for an hour with no luck. In the end the drivers gave up the task and reversed up the track the way they had come, another engine required at the head of the train I suppose. Their failure had offered me a fantastic spectacle, the chance to see the full power of a Class 15F at full steam, wheels spinning wildly under a wide sunny broad South African sky.

Steam was still in service, the country being under the yoke of Apartheid and therefore sanctions and war with its neighbours causing a lack of oil, so steam being coal-fired was the solution. All the lines have been electrified now or converted to diesel, that romance lost as it was lost everywhere else but I got to see it at the end.

My memory of steam locomotives in the UK is hazy as I was too young to take it in but at least I was there at the end of steam for South Africa.