Awesome news. Be interesting  to hear the reactions of some of the resident naysayers here. (You know who you are)

Looking forward to seeing the move, hopefully it passes through Ogden on the way to Cheyenne

IIRC, wasn't the 611 another one that had a strong following of pessimists? Guess this makes them 0 for 2 now 

I wonder if this will also cause a spike in the value of 4014 models as per the "famous number" syndrome. I was currently on the market for Lionel's JLC model, better find it quick....

Great news...can't wait to see the 4014 steam out of Cheyenne. 

Chris

Wow.  Hope it comes through our local Utah tracks on it's way.

Any guesses to how long it will take to get it up and running?  Years multiple digits I'm guessing.

Union Pacific confirms plans to restore Big Boy steam locomotive

Published: July 23, 2013

No. 4014 at Pomona

Photo by David Lustig

OMAHA, Neb. – Union Pacific confirms today it will purchase and restore a 4-8-8-4 Big Boy steam locomotive. The railroad has reached an agreement with the Southern California Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society in Pomona, Calif., to transfer ownership of No. 4014 back to Union Pacific. The railroad plans to relocate the locomotive to Cheyenne, Wyo., where its Heritage Fleet Operations team will work to restore it to operating condition. Details regarding those efforts will be made public at a later date.

Union Pacific donated No. 4014 to the historical society Dec. 7, 1961. The locomotive arrived Jan. 8, 1962, at its current display location at the Rail Giants Train Museum in Pomona.

"Our steam locomotive program is a source of great pride to Union Pacific employees past and present," says Ed Dickens, senior manager of Union Pacific Heritage Operations. "We are very excited about the opportunity to bring history to life by restoring No. 4014."

Trains News News has been following the saga of No. 4014 since December 2012 and will continue to provide updates as they are available.

 

Up's website says they anticipate 3-5 years for the restoration.

Chris

It's to bad the Challenger 3895 won't be restored anytime soon or at all.  To have all three UP steamers up and running at once would be a sight to see.

Well just found a "Bigger" reason to come out west now!!

Cheyenne's only 90 minutes from me.  I guess I will be going there more often!

Well, the issue with 611 is still funding, that one won't happen until $3.5 million can get raised by the museum. This looks like it will be funded by UP.

Not a naysayer btw, I'd love to see the 611 rolling since it's a lot closer to me.

Here I thought it was April in railroad world.......guess not cool beans ,great news

Interstate 80 West - 26 hours

I am hoping that Norfolk Southern sees UP as a competitor and that this announcement will convince them to fund the 611 rebuild themselves.

Seems a little odd that 3895 is being "tossed aside" to make way for the BB. I don't know if "tossed aside" is the right way to put it; it's just based on some talk. It would be interesting to know what they plan to do with 3895, but keeping 3 large steam engines operational and rotating in service would be quite an expansion of the steam program, and seems unlikely. 

Probably the UP finally decided to run a Big Boy instead of a Challenger because the BB is such an icon. However, a few shortcomings seem to be: (1) Presumably the BB will be used to haul passenger cars, which it never did "in real life "(this will upset the purists, but most probably won't care - still a little odd, given that the UP seems to like to "keep it real"); (2) It's likely that the BB will be more limited than the Challenger as far as where it can be run. This would seem to be an important consideration.

For example, there's a lot of trackage that 844 can't run on, and the Challenger could, because the longer wheelbase of the 844 won't accommodate tighter curves. Just in this area, the Challenger could (and did on a number of occasions) come into Dallas on UP trackage, but the 844 never has (or ever will), because the curve radius of the UP line coming into downtown and the Union Station area is too tight for the Northern. I would assume the same issue will affect the BB.

One of the issues that caused the latest delay (this past Sunday) in ferrying the Dallas Big Boy to its new new museum location is concern about the Big Boy negotiating various curves. It will exit the downtown area on BNSF track, not the UPs, but there's still concern about other curves, including two wyes that will have to be traveled, one of which will have to be used.

So the UP will be using a steam engine for passenger service that it wasn't designed for, and operating it with some significant limitations on where it can be run. Or so it would seem.

Truly amazing news.

If I am able to lift a camera, I'll be there when #4014 runs under power.

Scrappy

What happened to the 3985? Can Hotwater or someone else chime in? 

Awesome.... Been a tough summer for a few know-it-alls around here who said this and/or the 611 would never happen.

Pamona is just up the road a bit from were I live (Barstow, Calif.),  so I hope to go see the #4014 once more before it is moved.  I've seen it many a times and have nice pics of it along with the other vintage equipment there on display. 

Hey...maybe U.P. will restore the #9000 too?  It is also on display next to the Big Boy in Pamona.

Very interesting to say the least!  Two Big Boys in one city?  Three to five years (or more).  I guess time will tell.

Ken

Oh, boy!

I wouldn't spend too much time over analyzing this, the UP knows what it is doing and wouldn't spend the $$$ or the time on acquiring or restoring a 4000 so it could sit still.  Lets just watch this progress.

Chris 

Great great news!  Thanks for sharing!!

Seems to me this was dismissed as a hoax when I posted the summary of my conversation with the people that currently own #4014 on the thread regarding the Big Boy in Texas being moved.

https://ogrforum.com/t...57#18605835768584957

Looks like a little vindication here.

Good times a-comin'  THANK YOU to all involved

I'm really excited about this and proud of UP for doing it.  When done, I will travel halfway across the country to see it.

And a host of others .  .  .

And not talk any more about it.    

Road trip!!!

Thinks for posting this, SJC.  This will be so fantastic to see.  It shows that we should never say never.

Now who said this?  Rudolf?  Rudolf's mama?

Matt, if you believe that story, I've got some ocean-front property in Kansas you might be interested in. 

 

Not gonna happen...

 

Awesome news...Now it's just a matter of time 'til we get No. Eighteen!  UP steam and UP scream !

Our OGR Forum Webmaster will deal with him.

The Kratville Big Boy book claims that 4000's did pull passenger trains but not often and usually just to get them to the next division point. 

The mighty Union Pacific says...Go Big or Go Home