Article and video posted on UP.com website at the link below
http://www.up.com/aboutup/comm...-steam-8-11-2016.htm
Original Post
Replies sorted oldest to newest
Taking the Big Boy for a Spin, Ed Dickens keynote speaker.
Published on You Tube, August 11, 2016 / Play time: One minute.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...ature=em-uploademail
Gary
Very cool!!
Best of luck, UP Steam Shop!
If I wasn't so old and fat and broken ..... I'd wish I could be an entry-level guy in that shop, working on 4014. 
Exciting stuff! After listening to the presentation on the rebuild of the 844, I'm confident that the day will come when we all get to experience 4014 once again. Thanks to UP and its employees for keeping steam alive in Cheyenne!
I must say it is really something to see a 4000 on the TT in Cheyenne again.
I've grabbed my popcorn and I'm just waiting for the entertainment to start. Anything with the UP steam program, you just know the thread will get locked eventually!
But now that 844 has actually run and can steam now, I truly believe this project is going to get moving, and moving fast. What was a "never will happen" thing we all used to dream about in bull sessions is actually looking like we can really, truly, see a 4000 under steam again.
I never thought I'd see the day where I could type/write that and not have it be a joke.
great video - exciting news
OOOO Boy let the hype begin!!!
I got popcorn. Didn't 4014 have the most flue time left before retirement?
Yawn...
Getting the UPP 4014 to fire correctly with OIL is going to be the trick!
Dominic Mazoch posted:Getting the UPP 4014 to fire correctly with OIL is going to be the trick!
When I talked to them before 4014 left Los Angeles, they said they didn't see much of a problem. The Challenger was originally coal-fired and burns oil now. Don't recall if 844 originally ran on coal.
Thanks for posting.
No much info, but really cool all the same. I would say that maybe the 844 success would quite some of the naysayers, but I am sure it won't.
Thank you Union Pacific for your renewed dedication to steam operations and restoration. .Congratulations to the UP steam crew on a job well done on the 844 and looking forward to witnessing your next success with 4014.
jhz563 posted:I would say that maybe the 844 success would quite some of the naysayers, but I am sure it won't.
Ya think?
OGR Webmaster posted:Yawn...
Dominic Mazoch posted:Getting the UPP 4014 to fire correctly with OIL is going to be the trick!
Hot Water has already stated many times, (correct me if I'm wrong) that firing with Oil should not be an issue.
Enjoy the moment !!
Looks like a plane ticket to Cheyenne is in order... Will be a great event.
Yes, they will have it running in a while, just like they did 844............I hope this thread won't get cut/butchered like the others, but we got more judges than jury on this forum!........I'd say that the Union Pacific has very deep pockets, and can throw man power, and dollars for parts at it, where other railroads can not or will not, everything viewed as an "ROI".......Not one company has more money than the other, it's difference in business philosophy....I would have been tickled to death, to see the "765" run through the Ashland-Huntington-Ironton Tristate area this year, but NS says "NO", and it is their railroad....
At least the NS has a steam program... the CSX needs to take note!
It's "kinda" like rebuilding 844 twice.....maybe Ed can pull it off.
AGHRMatt posted:Dominic Mazoch posted:Getting the UPP 4014 to fire correctly with OIL is going to be the trick!
When I talked to them before 4014 left Los Angeles, they said they didn't see much of a problem. The Challenger was originally coal-fired and burns oil now. Don't recall if 844 originally ran on coal.
All of the UP 4-8-4's were built as coal burners, but by the end of the 1940's they had been converted to oil firing.
Stuart
I enjoy reading the news and the dialogue on this Forum about the Big Boy restoration. I think, for the most part, it is a healthy discussion. The bottom line for me is this. When the Big Boy runs again we should all be happy because that means someone, somewhere, has taken the bull by the horns and is leading us in the right direction. Let's bring back the remnants we have of the age of steam. For goodness sakes, let's celebrate all of this instead of beating each other into smithereens.
When the Big Boy runs, I WILL be there. Not exciting enough for you ("yawn), then you need to look into therapy for the steam jaded.
Scrapiron Scher
I agree and I'm a little jealous, As a Canadian what large steamers do we have running? Nothing. The 2816 is hidden away someplace. 
6060 ... no idea on it's status.
Scher - I think Rich's "Yawn" is the useless banter we will have to endear...
Not the 4014 coming back on line...
Getting steam engines running again seems routine for Jerry Jacobsen, Strasberg and a few others. Should follow them but never, ever sad to see a steamer run.
A #4000 back in steam is pretty much as good as it will ever get for US preservation. Any steam person with an ounce of marketing smarts can see that this will have positive spill over to the rest of the steam world. Then again, we could just squander the opportunity while bickering and mudslinging. Anyone care to bet on what happens?
Well, that takes care of the fastest...844, and the biggest, 4014.. but the best UP steamer of
all sits waiting..waiting..one of the finest dual service steamers ever built, the Challenger.
Ed
It would be interesting to speculate Ed's medium to long term goal/plans. Having now secured a 15 year "ticket" on 844 his next project as announced is 4014 which will take I guess a few years. Once that is done his next goal surely has to be 3985 and if he plans it right he could end up with all three in steam at the same time.
Is this a plausible plan if you were Ed?
Ukaflyer posted:It would be interesting to speculate Ed's medium to long term goal/plans. Having now secured a 15 year "ticket" on 844 his next project as announced is 4014 which will take I guess a few years. Once that is done his next goal surely has to be 3985 and if he plans it right he could end up with all three in steam at the same time.
Is this a plausible plan if you were Ed?
No, because he will have NOTHING to do with 3985! In fact, he has been removing various appliances and components (all the superheater units have been destroyed), so as to make 3985 inoperable for the future.
Time will tell what's in store for the 3985....we'll just have to wait and see.
Hot Water posted:Ukaflyer posted:It would be interesting to speculate Ed's medium to long term goal/plans. Having now secured a 15 year "ticket" on 844 his next project as announced is 4014 which will take I guess a few years. Once that is done his next goal surely has to be 3985 and if he plans it right he could end up with all three in steam at the same time.
Is this a plausible plan if you were Ed?
No, because he will have NOTHING to do with 3985! In fact, he has been removing various appliances and components (all the superheater units have been destroyed), so as to make 3985 inoperable for the future.
If HW is correct, somebody in Omaha should be concerned. In other places, destroying company property ON PURPOSE could get one fired, or worse, arrested!
Does anyone know if Dickens ever engineered/ran the #3985, before it was taken out of service???
I just wonder what his beef with engine #3985 is, other than having it on his "Tombstone" that he was the one who resurrected shopped/overhauled the #4014 back into service for the UP.................................Just Sayin!
Brandy posted:Does anyone know if Dickens ever engineered/ran the #3985, before it was taken out of service???
I just wonder what his beef with engine #3985 is, other than having it on his "Tombstone" that he was the one who resurrected shopped/overhauled the #4014 back into service for the UP.................................Just Sayin!
His beef with 3985 is that it is always been associated with Steve Lee and the old crew. He constantly has made excuses on why it isn't running with his latest excuse that it's "too slippery". I'm sure HotWater can give more info on this.
Brandy posted:I just wonder what his beef with engine #3985 is, other than having it on his "Tombstone" that he was the one who resurrected shopped/overhauled the #4014 back into service for the UP.................................Just Sayin!
As mentioned in previous threads (all of which got locked eventually, as will this sooner or later, you can count on that), I think it was said that there was a commonality of parts between Challengers and Big Boys and there might have been something about yanking some parts of 3985 to eventually use on 4014.
I'm not 100% sure of that, but I think I read that on one of the all-long-since-locked threads on this subject.
But the 3985 could have put into operation with some help. At least store her so it could be placed into service later.
But I think one's position IN PUBLIC should be neutral concerning UP's equipment. If Omaha wants 4014 next, so be it. But the man is responsible for the condition of all the item under him.
Perhaps it is time to press the reset key on opinions related to the UP Steam Program now that 844 is back on the rails and performing well. I'm going to follow future 844 operations and the 4014 restoration with great interest on this forum. The die has been cast in favor of near term investment in 4014 over 3985 - second guessing that decision achieves nothing positive but results in further animosity. Hopefully the UP Steam Shop people will build on their recent success with 844 and management has learned from past experiences - both positive and negative - time will tell.
If HW is correct, somebody in Omaha should be concerned. In other places, destroying company property ON PURPOSE could get one fired, or worse, arrested!
Dickens was fired once......then he was brought back to run the whole show.
J Daddy posted:At least the NS has a steam program... the CSX needs to take note!
NS does not have a steam program. It ended in 2014.
J Daddy posted:Scher - I think Rich's "Yawn" is the useless banter we will have to endear...
Not quite. The "yawn" indicates my complete lack of interest in the 4014 project.
p51 posted:...As mentioned in previous threads (all of which got locked eventually, as will this sooner or later...
It will stay open as long as the discussion remains civil. That's in YOUR hands, not mine. If the discussion degenerates into name-calling, as the other UP threads have done, then yes, it will be locked.
Then you can start it all over again.
well then to cool things off let's talk about 1361........(running for cover)
