New Director at UP Steam Shop

Don't you just love that, "….free up time for Ed Dickens," statement?  Free him up from what? They have hardly any qualified Union Craft workers there now, None of the three locomotives is even remotely close to operational, and there isn't much heat in the shop anymore.

The best thing about Mr. George is his reputation for being a REAL hard***, plus he knows diesel units like the DDA40X and the "E" units. Mr. George also knows more than enough people from the previous crew in the Cheyenne area, to determine when the current manager is BS'ing him. Things will get VERY "interesting" pretty soon, within the Cheyenne Steam Shop.

I just plugged it in...

Nothing more to see here folks,,,,,,,just move along now.

Sounds like a good thing to me.

Is that a new position or was Ed in that before?

From director of the Little Rock shops to director of the Cheyenne shops sounds like a step or two down for Mr. George. Was he a UP man, or is he from the MoPac?  Maybe he is working up to retiring is that area.

For what it's worth, nothing in that statement released by UP indicates that Mr. George was "The Director of the Jenks Locomotive Shop". To be clear, Mr George was a Director at the Jenks Shops, thus he was not the "Shop Superintendent". He will, however be the new "Director of the Cheyenne Steam Shop".

Yes, this is a "new position" as there never was a "Director" at the Steam Shop previously, only the Manager. The current manager, is STILL you know who, although he has called himself "Senior Manager" for the last 2 or 3 years.

Is that a new position or was Ed in that before?

There has been no title change for Dickens.  However, it appears that he has had "day-to-day administrative tasks associated with UP Steam Shop" given to a new director who will be working on site.

I take that to mean that Omaha has decided that closer supervision of the steam program has become necessary.  How or when the situation might change remains to be seen.

From director of the Little Rock shops to director of the Cheyenne shops sounds like a step or two down for Mr. George.

Director of system locomotive facilities at the Little Rock shops has to be one of the most important mechanical positions in railroading.  Movement to the Cheyenne shop would be a step down in scope of responsibility.  However, it may represent the value that Omaha places on having steam locomotives and other heritage equipment well maintained and available for service.

Was he a UP man, or is he from the MoPac?

I don't think he is old enough to have worked for the Mo Pac.

The best thing about Mr. George is his reputation for being a REAL hard***, plus he knows diesel units like the DDA40X and the "E" units.

That is a very good observation.  The DDA40X and the E units should benefit from this quickly.  If critical spare parts for the DDA40X have been scrapped I imagine that will come to light soon. 

We will see what George and Omaha do next.

I guess I haven't kept up with changes at UP...how old was Steve Lee that he retired?

Tom

It still sucks though there's no mention of 3985 on that FB post 

Sounds like more corporate 'mumbo-jumbo' or 'corporate speak' to me. Unfortunately the latest UP press release regarding their heritage steam program reminds me of a classic mushroom saying: "Keep them in the dark and feed them s**t'! To my way of thinking musical chairs in the corporate world isn't a good indicator for the future of any 'program' especially a steam heritage program. Shifting personnel from one position to another, qualified or otherwise, is a bit suspicious and a predictable way for corporations to 'buy' time. I sincerely wish it was otherwise but I don't think I'll live long enough to see UP steam return to the rails again at least in my lifetime.

Hot Water might or might not agree with my analysis of the situation but its what I think is going on inside UP's headquarters in Omaha.

Other "changes have also taken place in the management structure in Omaha, over the "Steam Shop", which obviously UP did NOT announce. Plus non published actions behind the scenes concerning the current manager. The assignment of Mr. J. Scot George will be a very good thing to start with, because now there will be "leash put on" the current manager by someone VERY intelligent, with extensive people management skills, which the current manager has neither of.

Hot water:

Will this mean that we might see engine in operation before July?   #3985 since she has been sitting neglected since 2010.

Thanks hot Water It was wishful thinking on my part. I figure first Mr George like any good manager is going to sit back and watch while getting up to speed. Then set the priorities and clean house. My guess is that your buddy will be given chance to retire on his own  The reality is that the writing is on the wall and he is out. I just hope he can read..  

The one thing that really bothers me is What did he have against #3985. I could understand if it was a budget issue but it was not. So what was his problem.  The engine spit at him?

3985 =

 +

So, Jack, does this mean, IYO, that the UP steam program will not only focus on #4014 but might also make #3985 and #844 operational again? Do you see a chance all three might be rolled out for some "event?" Is Mr. George, IYO, a "steam" man?

Sorry, Jack, I had not read your explanation above.

Eliot

Let me guess they didn't like each other. THATS STUPID

Well this a positive for sure...looks like Omaha is finally making some positive steps towards "correcting" things in Cheyenne.

Isn't this sorta like a "to spend more time with his family" type of statement?

Rusty

Except that the current manager really has no "family". Please refer back to the sexual harassment lawsuit. 

Isn't this sorta like a "to spend more time with his family" type of statement?

Or his legal counsel 

His "legal counsel" is the UP Legal Department, and they are sure in a tizzy over what he has "allegedly" done.

Maybe this is none of my business, and maybe it can't be answered on this forum; But just exactly what did he do? I'll apologize in advance for my curiosity.

Jack W:  Thanx for all your insight on what's happening out there in Cheyenne and on the U.P.  My one question is:  Is the U.P. now planning to do the required repairs on the #844 to get it operational again, soon?  As I commented a while back, 2014 was the first year since the U.P. was founded in 1862 or whenever that was, that they did not have an operating steam locomotive on line. 

I'm excited about the idea of the restoration of a Big Boy because I do remember seeing them in 1951 when my parents and I drove out West from Wisconsin.  We saw them doubleheaded pulling up Sherman Hill and I can never forget the impression of sheer power at work next to us on Hiway 30.  I hope to live long enough to see the first operation of the #4014.

But, in the meantime, to once again see/hear/and feel the #844 would certainly be a real treat.  I first saw her in 1969 during the festivities of the 100th anniversary of the driving of the Golden Spike.  At that time she was #8444.

Paul Fischer

I would expect Mr. George has to do a serious evaluation of the current state of affairs before deciding where to expend resources.

Rusty

This is a YT Video of the Arrival at Cheyenne, May 8th, 2014

Big Boy 4014 for restoration at the Steam Shop

Time 1:14 very short, take a look.....

Is this a case then that UP has created this position based on the possible outcome that Ed may be by default somewhere else due to circumstances beyond his control which would then leave Mr George seamlessly able to continue the restoration programmes without any hiccups over leadership?

Is this a case then that UP has created this position based on the possible outcome that Ed may be by default somewhere else due to circumstances beyond his control which would then leave Mr George seamlessly able to continue the restoration programes without any hiccups over leadership?

Probably something like that.

The new oversight may also result in a better picture in Omaha about what has and has not been in the control of the recent manager.  Several items may be of interest to people at the executive level of UP management.   They include pending law suites, causes of boiler and tender damage and the scrapping of parts.

If the closer oversight by the new Director results in his forming an opinion that the claims by the plaintiffs are likely true that may influence the legal department and executives to settle the claims and remove the source of hostility from Cheyenne. 

844 needs boiler work and the tender may also need repair work due to internal corrosion.  It has been claimed that the manager changed water treatment and boiler washing procedures.  844 and 3985 and their tenders are similar age but 3985 has been out of service since the arrival or the manager.  If 3985 and her tender don't have the scale and corrosion problems seen on 844 it well add weight to the notion that the change in water treatment and boiler washing did harm to 844.  The condition of 844s boiler has also called the veracity of 844s form 2 and form 3 federal reports into question.  If federal reports were falsified the new Director will likely figure that out and act accordingly.

It has been stated on the web that 3985 has had its superheater elements removed and scrapped and that critical diesel parts unique the DDA40X have also been scrapped.  Fabricating new superheater elements will be expensive.  Fabricating unique diesel parts is likely cost prohibitive.  If either has happened and there is no good, documented reason that might also result in some interesting comments from the new director to Omaha.

Oh, and since it is still the middle of winter, the new Director may also form an opinion on the relative merits of overhead cranes vs. drop ceilings and insulation. 

Excuse my ignorance, but who am I looking at, and why the 3985 = his picture???

That is Steve Lee, the former UP Steam Shop manager. The current manager has sidelined the 3985, even though it is in the best mechanical condition of the three UP steam locomotives. It has been said that the reason is that the 3985 is too strongly identified with Steve.

Steve Lee, who was strongly associated with 3985. The current supervisor was on the steam team at one time and was asked to leave. Needless to say, there seems to be some revenge involved.

But the "current manager", was NOT "fired from the Steam Shop/Crew" by Mr. Lee. He was "removed" from the Cheyenne Steam Shop/Crew by higher-up executives from Omaha, as a result of Union Craft complaints from the Mechanical Crew within the Cheyenne Steam Shop. He returned to his Engineer pool position out of Denver.

When Mr. Lee was promoted, some years later, to Superintendent, Heritage Fleet Operations (about May 2010), an even higher-up executive in Omaha (Executive Vice-President), promoted the same "trouble making" Engineer from Denver, despite advice from a number of other managers, to his current position.    

I have been following this for a long time. I always read both side with a grain of salt and figured somewhere in the middle was the truth. But now It pretty oblivious to me now that this whole thing was personal. Its one thing to replace personnel with a new management change if there was issues with the program.. It is another if the program was running fine. All good NCOs and Officers make changes. but, if there is not a strong and justifiable reason to recreate the wheel, you don't do it  unless to fine tune and make it better. How ever these changes from my perspective, were made not to improve a program, but out of personal spite along with blaming the former crew members for all the problems. Its also evident that he targeted UP board members who didn't know better to get their support. From what I have been able to find out Mr George has a solid track record and will turn the program around. So Mr Dickens should be very worried about having a job by the end of the year for the following reasons.

1. Since 3985 was side lined before the changes to the water treatment and boiler flushing procedures. He we be hard pressed to explain the reason for the change. Why he did not monitor the effects of the change? If he did know the changes were having a deteriorating effect on 844. Why did he not discontinue the change.   

2. If he knew the changes made were bad and hide them by falsifying reports or having knowledge that the information was false. He will not be able to explain that one or blame others.

3. If he can not show justification for scraping critical parts for 3985, the DDX, Historical documentation on all the equipment to include the rotary plow which had been discussed in another thread. That's another nail in the coffin. 

I am not going to get into the lawsuits because that is for a court to decide.

The bottom line is the above is enough to nail him on charges of willful neglect and the destruction of UP property that can be tracked back to personal issues. On top of that he could also be facing federal charges for falsifying safety documentation and if convicted that's jail time. If I was his friends who I know are reading this . I would be telling him its time to go while he could still collect a retirement income.

Doug

It's clear the Dickens rein is over! Scott George is a very high level director whose value to the company clearly states they aren't happy with whats going on in Cheyenne. We can soon watch what an intelligent person who is not motivated by personnel vendetta can do. Best news to come out of Union Pacific in regard to the steam program in many years.

Thanks to those who clarified the picture as Steve Lee.  I knew the name but never met him or seen a picture, now I know though at this point it doesn't matter since he retired.

Did he fully retire and completely walk away from all of UP and the steam program ("washed his hands and went fishin"), or did he remain on board as a (sometime) crew member?

I don't think it is so much Steve Lee washed his hands of the steam program as Dickens personal vendetta against Mr Lee keeps him away. Steve Lee is still active in the restoration field. He is a consultant for Cheyenne based Wasatch Railroad contractors. When he was retiring he said he would like to continue to be involved. Ed Dickens has made it clear he isnt welcome..