4014 is in the Armpit of Texas

Don't know if anyone is interested, I have a ton of detail pics of this beast, I can post here you can contact me off list and I'll see about getting them to you.  Unfortunately, I was not allowed in the cab, I tried but was not lucky enough to get them.   It will be here for another 8 days and i'm going to see if I can get with Ed Dickens to get me up in the cab.

J, If possible could you take a square-on photo of the drumhead on the last car? Not sure its the Kenefick at this point but it shouldn't matter. A high definition photo that nearly fills the frame can be printed on a transparency and we could all use it to make our own for our Excursion trains.

Thank you.

Pete

I have another word for El Paso but I will not post it because it is not nice.  It would get me booted of the forumn.

Pete, I'll see what I have that I took when it was allowed to be there for viewing and touching, you can't get on the property at this time as they are doing maintenance but I'm going to try and go see Ed Dickens, he is the Head of the UP Steam Program, very nice guy.  Will let you know.

Melvin, I totally agree, I have numerous names for El Paso and none of them can be said on the Forum, hence, the Armpit was the nicest I could come up with that would be allowed.  The only "good thing" about this city is the food, hands down there is nothing else like it in the country.

Thank you J. Another forum member posted this early on and the idea works but a picture where it fills the frame would be even better.

Pete

Patiently awaiting the arrival of the magnificent marvel in San Antonio. 4014 is not the first Big Boy I have seen however, that title goes to 4018. I saw it a year before the move to Frisco. I do have a picture but not on the computer though, everything was repainted but the reporting marks had not been applied yet.

A good ol ALCO reunion (alongside T&NO #794, an ALCO 1916 Product) will be amazing not to mention I dont think big steam (well, steam PERIOD) has ever visited San Antonio since the end of steam operations in the late 1950's!

Maybe one day this old Mike will see steam soon. Maybe we can get it fixed before the 786 is running again XD

Melvin P posted:

I have another word for El Paso but I will not post it because it is not nice.  It would get me booted of the forumn.

 

Where do you live?

El Paso, TX, why?

Pete, I looked thru what I have shot so far and I do not have a picture like you are wanting, I will try and get it before it leaves.  No one is supposed to be able to get on the UP yard property but I'm darn sure going to try.

J, don't get in trouble on my account. I can use what I have. Appreciate trying though.

Pete

El Paso may be getting a bad rap, but 4014 will soon be in the best part of Texas when it goes through Marfa, Alpine, and Marathon with Highway 90 right alongside the tracks. 
For anyone traveling there to see and photograph the event, be respectful of fence lines and private property. Most of the area is all privately owned ranch land. This advice is coming from a Texas rancher. 

I agree with Rob Leese about respecting peoples property and their fence lines but I'm sorry, I don't agree with him about El Paso getting a bad rap.  I'm not the only one who doesn't like El Paso, they have the best Mexican Food and a couple of Steak Houses that can't be equaled anywhere outside of the Armpit.  Other than the food which I will miss dearly, there is nothing else in this place that I will miss once I leave, except our beautiful home.

Pete, I'm not done trying to get you what you want, I'm going back down to the yards to see Ed Dickens, I really want some shots of the cab.  I will be persistent and like Ed said when we were discussing the 3985 , he said "never say never."

J. Motts posted:

I agree with Rob Leese about respecting peoples property and their fence lines but I'm sorry, I don't agree with him about El Paso getting a bad rap.  I'm not the only one who doesn't like El Paso, they have the best Mexican Food and a couple of Steak Houses that can't be equaled anywhere outside of the Armpit.  Other than the food which I will miss dearly, there is nothing else in this place that I will miss once I leave, except our beautiful home.

Pete, I'm not done trying to get you what you want, I'm going back down to the yards to see Ed Dickens, I really want some shots of the cab.  I will be persistent and like Ed said when we were discussing the 3985 , he said "never say never."

In case you are not aware, they have scheduled the FRA mandated boiler wash while in El Paso. Thus, until they are finished working and have her fired up again, I would suspect that NO VISITORS will be allowed anywhere near 4014.

Well, I like El Paso.  The nice folks at Fabens airport are a pleasure to deal with, and the feds will let me take " no radio" airplanes up the river without exciting the border patrol.  That, and I remember a spectacular hotel downtown within walking distance of two old steamers, one of which was revived.

Bob2, I agree, Fabens is a nice airport, when I was working on my pilots license back in the 70's I did many  touch and goes at that airport.  Back at that time, there was a BF109 sitting on a trailer, waiting to be put back to flying order.  The engine you mentioned that was revived, is the 3420, I was one of the members of the group that restored it to running condition, it is a 2-8-0 with a short Vanderbilt tender.  I was lucky enough to have been able to run it on more than one occasion, most times I was the fireman.  It is now on display again because the group doesn't have the money to have a new set of flues put in.  The front sheet needs a lot of work, also the fireman's side needs some work done on the main rods in the form of the rod bearings.  Unfortunately, the employees of the copper plant have removed some of the parts off of the engine.  I doubt that it will ever run again.  Besides that, the UP probably wouldn't allow it on the mainline as they were not receptive to our requests to run the engine before it started going to pot, it is very unfortunate what has happened to it.

Hot Water, when I spoke with Ed Dickens, he didn't elaborate as to what they were going to do to the engine, based on what you have stated, I fully agree that they will not let anyone around it.  However, I will try one more time.

Interesting to note they have an EOT device hanging on the back.

In the early 1970s I overnighted in Fabens - a really nice couple lived on the airport and helped me grind an exhaust valve.  A truly nice evening!

Planning on driving the couple hours from DFW to see 4014 in Palestine next weekend

I had success to day, I asked the security super today and after explaining what I needed to get in the way of a picture, he agreed to let me go up to the train and take pictures of the Observation car.  I hope what I took is what you need Pete.  Please get in touch with me by e-mail, it is in my profile.  I'll send you a sample and you can look it over and see if it is what you are looking for and if I framed it like you need.  I didn't want to push my luck and ask if I could also take pictures of the cab interior, maybe another time.  

As I was driving by the train, I could see heat coming from the stack and then I could hear the familiar sound coming from an oil burner in the firebox.  I'm sure they must have passed with flying colors for the FRA yesterday.  I'm sure they will start moving the train in to position for its 8 AM sharp departure heading Eastbound.  I had planned on heading out of town early and try and find a good trackside viewing place for some good pictures but a prior commitment will not allow it.  Oh well, I guess I have enough, all but the cab.

J. Motts posted:

I had success to day, I asked the security super today and after explaining what I needed to get in the way of a picture, he agreed to let me go up to the train and take pictures of the Observation car.  I hope what I took is what you need Pete.  Please get in touch with me by e-mail, it is in my profile.  I'll send you a sample and you can look it over and see if it is what you are looking for and if I framed it like you need.  I didn't want to push my luck and ask if I could also take pictures of the cab interior, maybe another time.  

As I was driving by the train, I could see heat coming from the stack and then I could hear the familiar sound coming from an oil burner in the firebox.  I'm sure they must have passed with flying colors for the FRA yesterday.

Now THAT is interesting information, since the FRA inspectors rarely EVER witness a boiler wash.

 I'm sure they will start moving the train in to position for its 8 AM sharp departure heading Eastbound.  I had planned on heading out of town early and try and find a good trackside viewing place for some good pictures but a prior commitment will not allow it.  Oh well, I guess I have enough, all but the cab.

I can't say for certain that he witnessed it but he is local and he may have been on site or not.   He is a very nice guy also, we had a good chat while he was waiting to talk to Ed Dickens again the first day I was there.  He was very familiar with the locomotive I had worked on in the past.  Take care and have a good evening, errr night, its later than I thought.

Cheers Guys,

Here are some views from Saturday, Nov 2nd in Alpine, TX. 
The clear morning sky is always beautiful here. 
It was no surprise for me to see Steve Allen Goen at the 5th street station in Alpine set up to video the train coming through town. He seems to be unstoppable. 

The exhaust and steam was impressive to the crowd

Rob Leese posted:

The exhaust and steam was impressive to the crowd

 

Wonder why the cylinder cocks are open on the Engineer's side only?

TheRWBYRailfan posted:

I dont think big steam (well, steam PERIOD) has ever visited San Antonio since the end of steam operations in the late 1950's!

At least one has.

TheRWBYRailfan posted:

A good ol ALCO reunion (alongside T&NO #794, an ALCO 1916 Product) will be amazing not to mention I dont think big steam (well, steam PERIOD) has ever visited San Antonio since the end of steam operations in the late 1950's!

 

Besides the American Freedom Train, SP 4449 displayed there Both enroute to, and from, the New Orleans Worlds Fair in 1984. 

I see three yahooos just had to be right up to the tracks, fortunately they did move back in time. Maybe that's why the cocks were open, to encourage folks to back away.

traindavid posted:

I see three yahooos just had to be right up to the tracks, fortunately they did move back in time. Maybe that's why the cocks were open, to encourage folks to back away.

 

Without knowing the true answer, that was my thought, as well.  A portion of the crowd were acting foolish with no gumshoes around to keep them a safe distance from the track. You can see the engineer motioning the people to back away. 

I'm surprised that there didn't appear to be any UPRR police visible in the video above.  They were certainly present at all three stops in SW Utah and Caliente, NV, when we were there about a month ago.  We also saw some of the local constabulary involved as well.  Perhaps the difference is that the train stopped in all three locations -- here it was just whistling through.  As I mentioned in my earlier post on OGR about the crowds, the RR cops had a tough time keeping everyone back -- they even used a drone with a speaker to get folks to move back as the train came into Modena, UT.  Ed Dickens got on a bullhorn after the train was stopped and locked down and politely told the crowd that they could get all the closeup pictures of the engine they wanted (no climbing on the train), but when it was time to leave, everyone had to move back -- which seemed to work

I'm guessing that UP is (understandably) more than a little risk adverse, given the unfortunate mishap about a year or so ago with 844, when a woman was struck and killed standing too close to the tracks.

Rob Leese posted:

traindavid posted:

I see three yahooos just had to be right up to the tracks, fortunately they did move back in time. Maybe that's why the cocks were open, to encourage folks to back away.

 

Without knowing the true answer, that was my thought, as well.  A portion of the crowd were acting foolish with no gumshoes around to keep them a safe distance from the track. You can see the engineer motioning the people to back away. 

Except,,,,,,,,,,,,the cylinder cocks are NOT open on the Fireman's side, nor are they open on the rear cylinders on the Engineer's side. Control of the cylinder cocks doesn't work that way, as they are ALL either closed or open.

The people on the platform are way closer then the people on the engineers side of the locomotive, but no one is saying anything about them. This twenty five feet rule is a little ridiculous. I understand being cautious, and I understand that society isn’t as bright these days but at the same time people need to think for themselves. 

I wondered about the folks on the platform too, but the three yahoos are not only too close, but spoiling everyone else's photos. I think the cocks on the 4014 are automatic, if so, they can open individually--but if you look, they are also open on the fireman's side, we just don't seem them as clearly.

traindavid posted:

I wondered about the folks on the platform too, but the three yahoos are not only too close, but spoiling everyone else's photos. I think the cocks on the 4014 are automatic,

Not really "automatic", as the Engineer has one, and ONLY ONE, steam supply control for ALL the cylinder cocks, i.e. ALL 4 CYLINDERS AT ONCE. However, those types of steam operated cylinder cocks (it requires boiler steam pressure to close all the cocks, otherwise they are always open), will "pop" when any moisture/water exceeds the steam pressure keeping the cock closed.

if so, they can open individually

Nope. The ALL open together.

--but if you look, they are also open on the fireman's side, we just don't seem them as clearly.

What you are seeing on the Fireman's side is the steam/water discharge from the Elesco Exhaust Steam injector, with that discharge located at the front of the rear cylinder on the Fireman's side. The cylinder cocks are NOT open on the Fireman's side. Thus, apparently the cylinder cocks on the front engine are stuck open on the Engineer's side.

Hot Water posted: The cylinder cocks are NOT open on the Fireman's side. Thus, apparently the cylinder cocks on the front engine are stuck open on the Engineer's side.

 

Good thing, cause thats the only way to hear anything resembling a chuffing sound out of 4014.

Apparently the whistle is stuck open too LOL!!

Question:

From West Jct to the Houston Amtrak Sta, will 4014 go up the trackage used by the Sunset Ltd, or go east and turn north later?

Enlarging map on UP Steam site, train will go north at West Junction, then east at Euteaka Jct. In Houston.