Tinplate Art posted:GENTLEMEN: Why quibble over the semantics of numbers, when there is so MUCH else to embrace about this event? Call the Big Boy whatever you wish, it is still a GRAND machine! ☺
Because this whole thread is Pathetic💩
Well, it has had its highs and lows, but a good ride nontheless! The goal is to ENJOY life before the smiling mortician steps in!
All I can say is that it was a pleasure to watch the 4014 train on its journey so far and to appreciate that it happened at all, I don't think Steve Lee was making a sucker bet when he was willing to bet a BB would never steam again. Given that big railroads were busy dropping their steam programs,that it is very difficult now just to be able to run steam excursions on manny railroads, and that the UP, like all railroads, are under pressure to cut costs to the bone while maximizing stock price, it makes me very appreciative that the whole 4014 story happened at all. Take it from me, stock analysts don't give one iota about good will or good PR, nor do the finance people in a company who cater to stock analysts (both groups severely lack any imagination or romantic streak,either), so it took a lot of providence for this to happen, I don't know who it was that stuck their neck out for this, that a will o' the wisp can still happen and I am able to see it therefore is a special thing. I don't know if it succeeded by pure luck or by pure skill, I don't know if those running the program are heroes or swine, all I know is I am seeing a beautiful sight chugging down the tracks like a contented dragon after feasting on a herd of cattle they made into instant BBQ.
A while back I signed off participating on this thread because it seemed to me that the "not only is the glass half-empty, but it isn't even wet inside" crowd were drowning out (sorry, mixed metaphor) most of us that wanted to see the resurrection of 4014 as a positive event and trying to keep whatever perceived hype there was in perspective. 4014 seems to have survived running that gauntlet - not to mentioned acting like a real locomotive -and this thread has been a great link to the various pictures and videos of 4014 and 844. So kudos to y'all for a) hanging in there (here) and b) maintaining some enthusiasm (at least collectively) for UP's effort. Railpictures.net (a terrific website with a great and fairly accessible archive) has started to show pictures of 4014/844 -- check it out.
Just checked out some of the latest pictures posted on Railpix - and this one really stands out - if you ignore the diesel, its hard not to see the early to mid-1950's heyday of UP big steam... https://railpictures.net/photo/696377/
BIGKID: WELL STATED!
It occurs to me that the great public reaction to the big boy and the positive public image it is giving the UP (by folks who aren't train orient folks) may spill over to the other remaining BIG railroads and perhaps spur some other steam programs. MAYBE?? So far in spite of the odds against it, this has been a BIG publicity coup for UP.
The "other" railroads are deep into the late E.H. Harrison's slim-down management style, or are wrestling with PTC implementation or the stalling thereof! Running any kind of steam is the LAST thing on their corporate minds! Any "bleedover" from the great UP venture would be nothing short of a miracle! Even Mr. Buffet, who by all accounts actually is something of a train buff, has not taken any action directly or indirectly to emulate the UP love affair with steam! One can always hope.......
Well someday they will wake up an realize that Harrison is/was an idot, and the PTC doesn't work in the real world. When management comes out of colleges and not up through the ranks, they don't know how things really work.
Of course, that's just my opinion, and YES, I AM a college graduate--but later in life.
Questions:
1. How long will the buzz last?
2. Not much buzz here in Houston, a major city and UP terminal. Why?
3. Why should we expect any industry to support, er, subsidize, my hobbies?
Dominic Mazoch posted:Questions:
1. How long will the buzz last?
2. Not much buzz here in Houston, a major city and UP terminal. Why?
3. Why should we expect any industry to support, er, subsidize, my hobbies?
1. We don't know.
2. We don't know.
3. We don't. (Reviving BB was a UP decision, nothing to do with supporting, er, subsidizing, "us".)
Hope that helps.
Andre
Kelly Anderson posted:Mainstream news coverage remote from UP territory is getting going. This is in today's Lancaster, PA newspaper.
I've started to see articles pop up in my various news feeds, so it is getting very good attention in our news "rage of the day" saturated media world, IMHO. If UP does it right, they can make some splash as they take to the big cities. The local TV stations and papers will be more willing to cover a local story and perhaps national attention when it shows up in LA.
Bob
Well, this video posted to Facebook this morning seems to absolutely smash any doubt of how they are working the locomotive. It’s definitely worth a look and listen!
Most impressive sound yet; we'll just let them slowly work her in and get to know her. I've been under the impression 4014 might be doing most of the (light) work to date based on the wheezing coming from 844's right side.
Bob
bbunge posted:Kelly Anderson posted:Mainstream news coverage remote from UP territory is getting going. This is in today's Lancaster, PA newspaper.
I've started to see articles pop up in my various news feeds, so it is getting very good attention in our news "rage of the day" saturated media world, IMHO. If UP does it right, they can make some splash as they take to the big cities. The local TV stations and papers will be more willing to cover a local story and perhaps national attention when it shows up in LA.
Bob
National news coverage has already begun, there was live coverage on Fox News, about 30 minutes ago.
To piggyback on Richards comments above, the Houston Chronicle has a nice article and video coverage of the event and Bigboy in general.
Houston seems to be very active on the Bigboy scene. Nice to see the big cities support.
Charlie
The restoration of #4014 has been a complete failure........the cylinder head covers have not been returned. (joking, of course !)
Dominic Mazoch posted:Questions:
1. How long will the buzz last?
2. Not much buzz here in Houston, a major city and UP terminal. Why?
3. Why should we expect any industry to support, er, subsidize, my hobbies?
No way to know how big the buzz is, how far it will spread, but I would bet that the 150th anniversary celebration will make national media when it happens. The UP will be able to use this in their advertising going forward, images of the big boy at the 150th can be used in call kinds of promotional things in ways only a marketing person can think up *lol*. I don't think UP was looking for the kind of buzz a movie or whatnot requires, this kind of effort is very different, it is more about long term corporate image and 'branding' then it is with immediate buzz IMO.
As far as #3 goes, I haven't seen anyone saying industry should be supporting anyone's hobbies. On the other hand, one can cheer on the UP for doing this and enjoy this for what it is in an age when these kind of things are rare, and it is perfectly okay to criticize the narrow focus of today's stock driven world and bemoaning the fact that things like UP's beau geste are increasingly rare. No one is expecting any industry to support their hobby, I think what they are hoping for is industry to understand they don't exist in a vacuum and somethings things aren't just about the bottom line, that sometimes there is value in doing things that otherwise have no value in a spreadsheet but bring something different to the world *shrug*.
Dominic Mazoch posted:Questions:
1. How long will the buzz last?
2. Not much buzz here in Houston, a major city and UP terminal. Why?
3. Why should we expect any industry to support, er, subsidize, my hobbies?
Are you having a bad month/year? Pretty much every post you have made about this carries negative connotations.
Kelly Anderson posted:Mainstream news coverage remote from UP territory is getting going. This is in today's Lancaster, PA newspaper.
The same article was in the Roanoke Times this morning.
DEAR DOMINIC: Your posts here, whether intentional or not, have a consistant contrarian tone. My sincere advice at 76 is to SMILE and have a little FUN! Life is too short to be unhappy! The UP steam program, warts and all (LOL!), has helped boost my morale, in spite of heart issues and dialysis! Like Charlie Chaplin said in his famous song: "If you'll just SMILE!"
Stop being so sensitive people. If a train forum is steeling your joy or altering your mood, maybe you have other issues to deal with. It's a public forum and people's views don't have to align. If someone's posts bother you that much, move past them or choose the ignore function. No one on here has any power to stop another from enjoying or not enjoying the big boy. Life is short and much too short to worry whether random strangers on the internet agree or disagree with you.
SAMPARFITT: THANK YOU, SIR for posting that truly wonderful U Tube video link! It made my day! ☺
Borden Tunnel, thank you for the photo that is much appreciated.
From a national Newspaper • USA Today
May 8, 2019
Gary: Rail-fan & Model Railroader - Now with a Big Boy 4014 on my layout.
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Another nice video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_aZbzfJQmaA
Looks like lots of good weather.
From all the spectators along the track, even out in the 'boon docks' there must be 10,000 people out there recording 'history'.
SAMPARFITT: THANKS AGAIN! GREAT footage of a grand machine!
Isn't the scenery just beautiful in those last videos posted, even with the amateur cameras, no trees to block the views, We should be in Rawlins in time for arrival next week, tag along to Medicine Bow and Laramie before heading home. Perfect road trip for us here in Nebraska. Ah, Nebraska, its not for everyone. Some of us can remember the last trip we took where you got to stand and take in the scenery at one of those dutch doors, open at the top. Mine was up to Donner Pass in the early morning sunlight, looking down at Donner Lake and Andover.
This is living history folks. Who ever thought that we would ever see the largest steam locomotive ever built running again! Since there are no water towers along the way to Ogden , I assume that each locomotive carries an extra tender of water. As for the coal supply those tenders are huge and running at very moderate speeds. This probably extends the coal supply use, although the Big Boy's firebox is large and has a big appetite. AFAIK the firebox on a Big Boy is not fed by hand (its too big) but by a mechanical screw conveyor controlled by the fireman. Must be a tricky process to keep up steam but the guys in the cab apparently do it well.
Big Boy Weighs More Than a 747? It'll never get off the ground! 
Thanks for the photos & videos folks ... keep 'em coming!
Dennis LaGrua posted:This is living history folks. Who ever thought that we would ever see the largest steam locomotive ever built running again! Since there are no water towers along the way to Ogden , I assume that each locomotive carries an extra tender of water. As for the coal supply those tenders are huge and running at very moderate speeds. This probably extends the coal supply use, although the Big Boy's firebox is large and has a big appetite. AFAIK the firebox on a Big Boy is not fed by hand (its too big) but by a mechanical screw conveyor controlled by the fireman. Must be a tricky process to keep up steam but the guys in the cab apparently do it well.
They converted the 4014 to oil.
Rusty
Dennis LaGrua posted:This is living history folks. Who ever thought that we would ever see the largest steam locomotive ever built running again! Since there are no water towers along the way to Ogden , I assume that each locomotive carries an extra tender of water. As for the coal supply those tenders are huge and running at very moderate speeds. This probably extends the coal supply use, although the Big Boy's firebox is large and has a big appetite. AFAIK the firebox on a Big Boy is not fed by hand (its too big) but by a mechanical screw conveyor controlled by the fireman. Must be a tricky process to keep up steam but the guys in the cab apparently do it well.
4014 is running on oil,not coal, one of the reasons being they can fill the tender with oil from a tanker truck or fuel terminal in a yard. Water is not hard either, they have at least one auxiliary water tender in the consist,plus they could refill from a tanker truck or a fire hydrant or the like I would guess.
Oil also reduces wildfire danger from sparks and other afterproducts of burning coal.
ALL good points!
The water first goes through the treatment car which is in the consist, then to the tender, late UP had massive treatment towers along.the way, there are pics of them out there.
trainroomgary posted:
Farmer_Bill posted:Big Boy Weighs More Than a 747? It'll never get off the ground!
The USA Today description comes up a little short. Actually, the Big Boy is longer than three city buses, and weighs more than the weight of the largest 747 model fully loaded and the largest 737 model fully loaded combined. 
The 747 has a wider wingspan, however.
breezinup posted:Farmer_Bill posted:Big Boy Weighs More Than a 747? It'll never get off the ground!
The USA Today description comes up a little short. Actually, the Big Boy is longer than three city buses, and weighs more than the weight of the largest 747 model fully loaded and the largest 737 model fully loaded combined.
The 747 has a wider wingspan, however.
Well, from what I see on Wiki, a fully loaded 747 tops out at 970,000 pounds. The locomotive (sans tender) is ABOUT 760,000 pounds. And bus length comparison depends, again, on whether you are including the tender. Locomotive itself is almost exactly two (non-articulated) buses, and with tender a little more than three. The article didn't say locomotive and tender.
David
Big Boy passing Tie Siding Wyoming.
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Nice article in Fox Businesshttps://www.foxbusiness.com/fe...railroad-restoration
Sorry about the sloppy looking link- my phone is not agreeable this morning.
Dennis LaGrua posted:This is living history folks. Who ever thought that we would ever see the largest steam locomotive ever built running again! Since there are no water towers along the way to Ogden , I assume that each locomotive carries an extra tender of water. As for the coal supply those tenders are huge and running at very moderate speeds. This probably extends the coal supply use, although the Big Boy's firebox is large and has a big appetite. AFAIK the firebox on a Big Boy is not fed by hand (its too big) but by a mechanical screw conveyor controlled by the fireman. Must be a tricky process to keep up steam but the guys in the cab apparently do it well.
Some corrections are in order here.....The 4014 and the 844 are oil fired locomotives, which means they are fed oil through burners in their fireboxes. The tenders have special tanks where the coal bunker used to be. So that also means that the fireman isn’t shoveling coal, rather adjusting a burner.
You are correct with the that the two yellow “tenders” are filled with water since there are no towers to refill. I believe one of the tenders is for fuel if I’m not mistaken. They can refill these tenders at a fire hydrant or the like in a town or yard.
