Shops, Barns, Varmints, and Trucks - Union Pacific Big Boy 4014

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Union Pacific Big Boy 4014

Printed From: Unofficial Allis
Category: Other Topics
Forum Name: Shops, Barns, Varmints, and Trucks
Forum Description: anything you want to talk about except politics
URL: https://www.allischalmers.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=203359
Printed Date: 07 Oct 2024 at 6:33pm
Software Version: Web Wiz Forums 11.10 - http://www.webwizforums.com

Topic: Union Pacific Big Boy 4014

Posted By: Dennis J OPKs
Subject: Union Pacific Big Boy 4014
Date Posted: 23 Sep 2024 at 9:16pm

My memory is not great, but I thought there was a recent thread on here about Big Boy, but I can't find it.

I haven't watched all of it, but Jay Leno has a 1 hour you-tube video when it was in Council Bluffs, IA. The video is very detailed and involves discussion with the UP leader that resurrected it out of a park in LA-towed it to Cheyenne, stripped it down and put it back together. Believe it not, they are still training people to run this thing. Deep pockets and no one crawling on you about expenses. I'm sure it happens but behind closed doors. Enjoy if you're so inclined.

Replies:

Posted By: DMiller
Date Posted: 24 Sep 2024 at 4:29am

UP has a lengthy story line with vids and photos on the rebuild, millions in wages and custom made pieces as these old behemoths in their last years were ignored as to heavy maintenance, ran them for the trophies. The ones that escaped the scrappers ended up as park displays to be tormented and damaged further as we have one the 2017 here at the Museum of Transportation St Louis County. The Big Boys were a upgrade of the Challenger 4/6/6/4 engines and built to run on garbage lignite coal that was prolific in WY, not the hard high BTU eastern coals. The UP still has a Challenger but is not running and another Am Loco Steamer they do still run as well. And they do still earn their keep on occasion as freight draggers.

Posted By: HudCo
Date Posted: 24 Sep 2024 at 9:52am

seen the big boy this summer agian come past us i would sure like to see it pulling a big load , but that will not happen agian

Posted By: bigal121892
Date Posted: 24 Sep 2024 at 6:15pm

His a video from last year, the Big Boy pushing a stuck freight at Blair NE.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vLWBP-ehOo" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vLWBP-ehOo

Posted By: Dennis J OPKs
Date Posted: 24 Sep 2024 at 7:26pm

I have made it only about halfway through the Leno video. It was explained that the drive train is really what could be 2 locomotive drive trains hooked together. This one was converted to oil, I don't know if any others were or not.

Posted By: DaveKamp
Date Posted: 01 Oct 2024 at 9:16am

The Big Boys were originally designed with coal-burning fireboxes. 4014 was fitted with an oil-feeder experiment during WW2, but they found that the firebox arrangement was not as efficient at distributing the fire heat down the tubes with that design, so they switched it back to coal.

From what I've read, the basic problem was that the oil burner array would consume all the available oxygen in some areas, starving the others, and preventing the heat from equalizing... or something to that effect.

After the war, they revisited the experiment, and made some changes, which resulted in better thermal distribution. During 4007's restoration, they fitted it back up with oil burners. I don't know if they were able to correct the heat distribution situation, but going to oil-feed was pretty much a necessity in order to maintain it as a main-line operational piece of history.

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Ten Amendments, Ten Commandments, and one Golden Rule solve most every problem. Citrus hand-cleaner with Pumice does the rest.

Posted By: john64
Date Posted: 07 Oct 2024 at 1:50pm

A friend of mine, Austin Barker is the fireman in the Jay Leno video, I didn't realize it had come out already. Austin is a young man from my area of Colorado who collects those green tractors but I still like him. He runs the families Case steam tractors when he isn't on the rails. He was here for our Yesteryear Farm Show in August but left a couple days later for the trip, won't be home until the end of the month so can't run his cousins steam tractor at our pumpkin farm this year.