UP 844

So, is there any concrete evidence that the FRA inspection passed, other than one random forum member stating it's so?

TexasSP posted:

So, is there any concrete evidence that the FRA inspection passed, other than one random forum member stating it's so?

None whatsoever! 

There is no information at all about it passing the FRA testing on UP's site, nor the UP Steam Twitter account, so I would be doubtful that it did pass.

And if the cab was back on, that would have been posted everywhere.  A quick web search only shows information posted about 3 weeks ago.  No updates.

trainroomgary posted:

If you look online, the cab has been sitting that way for weeks, if not longer.  

Any news? If I was UP I'd be promoting the heck out of this.

I live a short 2 hours from Omaha. Their zoo just completed a 73 million dollar renovation and was one of three zoos to rescue/fly 17 elephants from Africa's drought.  I visited it last week with my family. It's well done. Anyway, they promoted all of it before, during, and after.

My guess - no promotion because there is nothing to promote.

Apparently it was outside being steamed up yesterday. There's a pic over on trainorders.com of this event.

Not being a subscriber to trainorders.com, can someone tell us how she looks in the photo.  If 844 was being steamed up yesterday, would it be correct to assume the boiler has passed the FRA inspection?  What would be the progression of steps from initial steam up to be road ready for the Cheyenne Frontier Days run? As I recall from similar reports with 611's rebuild, it wasn't too many weeks between steam-up and test run.

Ed, "dbesade" posted this photo on the website.

Looks like a choo-choo to me..... If the pic is a hoax, someone went to a lot of effort to put this together; and to what gain?   Trainorders has a whole thread on the topic. FWIW, there's a whole lot of people that are very passionate about this.

Well Great!  I just hope the cylinders were empty when they blew steam through to dislodge any scale, dirt, welding rod ends, bottles, and cans!...........

I know that these guys must be under the Hammer from the top brass to make it happen!................Just Sayin...................Brandy!  

Lack of official word presents these two possible scenarios:

1. Somebody watches a little too much HGTV, and thinks this is the point where you kick the "homeowners" out of the house so you can surprise them with a big unveil of the finished product.

2. It's all some elaborate hoax.

Gilly that was an interesting read. I agree with the one poster. There must of been an ultimatum. Get it running and operational by the end of June or find a new Job. Time for more popcorn.

Union Pacific E9's in Omaha.

There is a group of You Tubers that are also following the 844 Steam Shop Story. This video shows the staging yard in Omaha, Nebraska. The play time is seven minutes and you will see all twenty passenger cars, that will be used for Frontier Days , on July 23, 2016. 

Filmed on June 14, 2016. These passenger cars are beautiful and the U.P. Yellow is very impressive. These You Tube Channels talk about, that the Union Pacific Corp. has purchased liability insurance for Frontier Days, and if the 844 is ready and used. The insurance carrier wants diesel power with the 844, for back up. If it was to break down. The 844 can not generate enough electricity to power 20 passenger cars, so these E9's will be used along with SD 70's doing the pushing.

This is the "Chet chat" on You Tube. 

Gary

Just read in Trains mag news wire 844 was steamed up and moved under her own power yesterday

What is the dome car near the end with no windows?

I can smell a lot of Crow cooking.

trainroomgary posted:

 

The 844 can not generate enough electricity to power 20 passenger cars, so these E9's will be used along with SD 70's doing the pushing.

This is the "Chet chat" on You Tube. 

Gary

I thought the UP had a HEP car for that...

As far as I know the 844, or any steam locomotive for that matter, can generate only enough electricity for its own lights and radio.

Rusty

What crow?  Nothing presented is definitive evidence of anything.  Only hearsay.  All you do on these threads is attack others, act like you know more, and offer zero facts and credibility.

Pot meet kettle.  You are one to talk about attacking people on this web site.  Go back and read all the trash you have talked about Ed Dickens. 

Please show where I have trash talked Dickens?  I have attacked no one, just simply asked you to back up anything you post.  Which as before, you never can do.  Just like now, you make claims about me which have no evidence to back them up.  

Most everyone thought I was blowing smoke so to speak on my 5/27 post.

Chuck Sartor posted:

Most everyone thought I was blowing smoke so to speak on my 5/27 post.

So because you say it, it is true?  Who are you and how do you know?  What evidence do you possess to back this up?  All honest questions here, nothing more.

Texas SP I'll apologize for calling you out, your picture looks like another person that likes to talk trash about Ed.  Anyway the crow is cooking and maybe not for you.  There are several people on this forum that all they do is talk trash about Ed and the seam program.

Thanks, and fair enough.

TexasSP posted:

What is the dome car near the end with no windows?

It could be it had all of its sun shaded down.

TexasSP posted:

What is the dome car near the end with no windows?

That's one of the power cars UP uses to supply the passenger cars with electricity.  Not the most elegant car in the fleet:

Rusty

TexasSP asks Who am I and how do I know, what evidence to I have. Fair question. I know 95% of the people on this forum don't know me other than my posts. If I am going to post something like the status of 844, I'm not going to make things up just to see how many people 'fall for it'. Not the way I roll. You get the reputation of a BS'er pretty quickly that way.

Now, how do I know? I personally know Ed, his fireman, and the now retired diesel heritage fleet master mechanic. I had available photographic evidence of what I posted back then with the cab and all. I asked if I could post the pictures, but it was requested that I didn't. Out of respect and not wanting to loose lose my favored status of getting inside information is why the photos were not posted.

Over and out.

UP No. 844 Moved Under Her Own Power Thursday

June 17, 2016 Trains Magazine

http://trn.trains.com/news/new...re/2016/06/17-up-844

RELATED TOPICS: WEST | UNION PACIFIC | STEAM/PRESERVATION | RAILFANING

CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Working toward returning their much loved 4-8-4 to the high iron, the Union Pacific steam crew test fired No. 844 Thursday after a lengthy rebuild, sources in Wyoming tell Trains News Wire.

No. 844 built up steam pressure and moved back and forth just outside the shop, blowing out dirt and scale from the cylinder cocks. Ahead is additional work, installation of the jacketing and lagging, and a test run in advance of the July 23 Denver Post Frontier Days Special between Denver and Cheyenne.

No. 844, the last new steam locomotive built for the UP in 1944 and categorized as “never retired” since 1962, has been out of service since 2013. After working to fix a problem with over-rolled tubes, the crew decided to complete a 1,472-day inspection on the locomotive. After opening up the engine, additional work was necessary, and in between all of this, UP acquired Big Boy No. 4014 and gave the Cheyenne shop a makeover.

Trains will cover No. 844’s return to service in a special issue, "Big Steam is Back," as well as 10 other large locomotives running this year.

Gary

Bad things can happen.  But considering the flattening of her wheels with the MU'ed diesel, the wrecked express boxcar, the mud build up in the boiler, and the length of time compared with N&W 611 is enough to make any reasonable person to ask questions.  It is not really a good idea to give red meet to those who could bite you!

I read the wheels were flattened because the control box that MU the 844 to the diesel was built by one of the Ed haters and he is trying to deflect the blame away from him.

jmiller320 posted:

I read the wheels were flattened because the control box that MU the 844 to the diesel was built by one of the Ed haters and he is trying to deflect the blame away from him.

 

You show how clueless you are once again. 

Blaming the MU box might have worked if others, including many of Ed's predecessors hadn't used those very boxes for over forty years without a single reported issue. Never mind the fact that even if the box DID malfunction, Ed's counter-action was COMPLETELY wrong.

Dieselbob posted:

Blaming the MU box might have worked if others, including many of Ed's predecessors hadn't used those very boxes for over forty years without a single reported issue. Never mind the fact that even if the box DID malfunction, Ed's counter-action was COMPLETELY wrong.

The MU box was checked and not a thing wrong with it. It was a major brain fart by Dickens & Co running 844. They're lucky the incident wasn't worse then flattened drivers 

"CHEYENNE, Wyo. — Working toward returning their much loved 4-8-4 to the high iron, the Union Pacific steam crew test fired No. 844 Thursday after a lengthy rebuild, sources in Wyoming tell Trains News Wire."

Congratulations to Union Pacific, Ed Dickens, and all of his steam crew and support staff for reaching another important milestone.

We all have another beautiful steam engine that we can read about, ride behind, listen to, and take photos of.  Let's simply enjoy this people instead of continuing to complain, find fault, and point fingers. 

Question, now that we might actually see 844 run in our life time.  How my qualified engineers does the steam crew have?

I understand the mud in the boiler issue, and the warped fire box, but, can someone explain how it is possible to flatten steel tires on steel wheels. BUT ONLY if it doesn't lead to another round of name calling. Thanks

The diesel would not respond to commands and was pushing the 844 while it had it's brakes locked up.

Thank You, now I understand the damage.

Clarence, I think that you are confusing flattening/flat spotting with DEFLATING. Nope you can't DEFLATE a steel tire on a steel wheel, but if a wheel is dragged with the brakes set, or any other reason that the wheel is not rolling as fast as the train is moving, you can/will create a flat spot on the tire, which will result in a rough ride, and pound the track structure.

Doug

jmiller320 posted:

The diesel would not respond to commands and was pushing the 844 while it had it's brakes locked up.

 

Once again you don't know or better yet you don't want the truth because it hurts your feelings