Any "Big Boys" restored and running that you know of?

[cefinkjr]

QUOTE: Originally posted by consolidation280

The unit in Dallas .... Look up the Dallas Railway Museum online for more info.

I do wi***he museum folks would at least cosmetically repair those burnt-off main rods. Even dummy sheet metal rods would be better than seeing those awful wounds. Nearly brings tears to my eyes every time I see 4018 (about once a year).

[:(]
Chuck

[Anonymous]

The unit in Dallas recently (read within the last 5 years) had its rods cut so it could be moved around. A movie company wanted the Big Boy checked out to determine if it was worth restoring for a movie. As you would expect, the project was killed due to the extreme cost and lack of places to run the beast. The last I time I was at the museum, the engine had a nice coat of paint and little visible rust or damaged body parts but I'm sure that the working innards are shot. This loco is nice in that you can still climb on parts of it (cab, front porch and part of the tender) to look it over. Look up the Dallas Railway Museum online for more info.

[Anonymous]

IF one was to be restored, there are many factors to consider:

Where would you run such a huge beast? UP was the only one that ran them (had to enlarge serveral curves to do it, too), and they're still about the only one's who could.

Where would you store it? UP's steam roundhouse in Cheyenne could do it, but show me another engine house with that big of a stall and enough floorspace.

Where would you turn it? UP only had 2 or 3 turntables capable of turning one, and only one's left. Wyes are comprable, but how many would be able to support all that weight? Turning the Challenger is hard enough, just think what a headache a Big Boy would be.

In the end, UP is about the only one who could A. Have the money to restore it B. Run it C. Turn it D. Store it. Maybe someday, but with two active steamers, I doubt UP wants to restore another. Maybe when 3985 or 844 is retired, but by that time, any remaining Big Boys will be close to 100 years old.....

[CNW 6000]

That may be the ugly reality...I bet many railfans would chip some $$ in to see one running again to offset the costs. Until that happens I'm gonna pray I hit a Powerball Jackpot and then I'd donate the $$!

[bsteel4065]

Come on, get real. Oh my, it would be wonderful to see a Big Boy run. Oh, my, oh yes. Just to hear it and see such a wondrous monster of that size stroll along the tracks would be fabulous. But money will only be invested if there is a return. Th emoney required to invest is enormous, th emoney to keep it running and maintatins is just as much, the support needs alone for a decent run would be so expensive. And the return? Sorry guys, I know we train freaks would love to see it, but the return on that outlay would never be realised. Yep, it's a shame, yep, I'd love to see it, but get real..... it ain't gonna happen.
Hey! I live in England and never got NEAR one!!
Shame.......................................

[Anonymous]

I remember reading in the January 1995 MR article about how it took 4200 man hours of labor to restore Challenger #3985. Factor in the cost and such a project would be a monstrous undertaking. Plus if you could find a shop big enough to accomodate the monster locomotives it would need to share floor space and time with other projects on the shop floor. It would be nice to see a Big Boy up and running again even if only in corporate excursion trains but I just can't see it happening anytime soon.

[tomikawaTT]

If it cost 1.5 megabucks to restore a fairly light 2-8-0 to service, then restoring a locomotive with twice the drivers and three times the complication would probably kick the feathers out of five huge before considering the tender. That 4-10 water-bottom pedestal tank would probably cost a million to restore all by itself.

Norfolk Southern didn't pull serviceable engines off the line. They pulled machines that needed parts that weren't available and would have cost the original price of the locomotive to manufacture. Then, once the decision was made to set them aside, the spares that were still available were sold for scrap. Some people might consider that sabotage. I'd call it a sound business decision.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: 4023 Council Bluffs

is that CB, Iowa?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: It simply would cost too much (est $2M last time some one considered it, 10 years ago

Grand Canyon Ry spent $1.5+ Million restoring 2-8-2 #4960. why can't UP restore a BIGBOY?

[BigRusty]

Who would work on them? The mechanics who serviced these humongous machines worked in huge shops that were designed for the purpose and have all been torn down. Most of the knowledgeable mechanics are either over 70 or dead. Its gone forever guys. Go see one at a museum, or visit the cab forward in the Sacramento Museum. It will blow you away.

[marknewton]

QUOTE: Originally posted by csmith9474

I wasn't trying to say anything bad about the UP. I am not one of these hobbyists that dislikes any particular railroad "just because". I have heard that in the past that particular railroads would disable equipment for various reasons before donating it to different organizations.

In many cases the railroads didn't have to disable locomotives before donating them. They were at the end of their economic lives, and were no longer serviceable. All that many of them got was a cosmetic restoration before being shoved into a park, and left to the elements.

And that's the other side of the coin. Even if a steam loco was donated serviceable, after forty or fifty years standing out in the weather it won't be any longer. I'm always surprised by the number of people I've encountered who don't understand that. They seem to believe that a loco that last ran in the 1950s should be easy to get running again, because the thing was nominally serviceable when it was withdrawn. They're dreaming...

Mark.

[Anonymous]

Eight one to one Big Boys are in parks or Muesums, but none will every be used again for anything other than us looking at them and enjoying the view, unless the UP wants to spend about four mil in rebuilding one. READ ( won't happen)

IWe will have to watch the Trix and Key models run, and they do run well, but it is not the same.


4004 Cheyenne
4005 Denver
4006 St Louis
4012 Steamtown
4014 Los Angeles
4017 Green Bay
4018 Dallas
4023 Council Bluffs

[Anonymous]

I think there is a H-8 2-6-6-6 in Dearborn that still drips lube oil to this day.

The Challenger is probably the best we are going to see "In the wild" there are a number of steam tours running such as Strasburg PA and a few steam locomotives that are being worked on such as the Cotton Belt #819 in Pine Bluff AR. That one may never see rails again due to a variety of issues.

A recent visit to various Big Boys via the internet pretty much tells me that it will take a great deal of expertise, money and manpower to get one of them running again if at all.

So. Kaput.

[csmith9474]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dirtyd79

QUOTE: Originally posted by marknewton

QUOTE: Originally posted by csmith9474

The UP cut the piston rods of the one that went to Dallas. I have heard of railroads "sabotaging" locomotives beyond being operable before donating them to various organizations.

A lot of roads cut piston rods to enable dead locomotives to be moved easily in train. Cutting them required less time and effort than removing the connecting rod. So sabotage may not have been the motive at all. At any rate, making a new piston rod is a fairly simple job, so cutting it would not prevent a loco from being returned to service.

All the best,

Mark.

But accusing the Union Pacific of everything from kicking puppies to starting World War 3 is more fun.

I wasn't trying to say anything bad about the UP. I am not one of these hobbyists that dislikes any particular railroad "just because". I have heard that in the past that particular railroads would disable equipment for various reasons before donating it to different organizations.

[sfrailfan]

ok, this has sparked my curiosity, why would a railroad UP, NS or any other go out of their way to 'kill' a steam loco? Is it because they have absorbed so much soot into their bodies over time? Seriously why wouldn't they want a historical society or museum to have an operational steam loco?

oh and by the way their are still some small operational steam locos in NJ at Allaire state Park. A 1-2 mile novelty ride.

Dan

[claycts]

$4.5 million to make the one in Steam town run. That was the GUESS when I was there last year. the big problem is that no RR want that equipment running. NS Killed the "J" and the Y6a so they could never run again.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by JohnLat

I know UP has one or two Challengers running out of Wyoming, but I was wondering if there is an active running Big Boy somewhere?

UP has ONE challenger (3985) and ONE 4-8-4 (844). Both are based in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Any additional Union Pacific 4-8-4s, challengers, big boys or other assorted UP steam that hasn't been scraped is pretty much on display in a park or at a museum.

It is a hugh ru***o see either 844 or 3985 run by. I have had the opportunity to photograph both of them from time to time as they were steaming across Nebraska at speed. Usually they will use one of the two to pull a passenger special of some kind and them use it in revenue freight service on the way back home. It really looks wierd to see a steam giant from the 1940s on the point of a train of modern covered hoppers, gigantic box cars, and 85 foot auto racks. Lots of fun! Now that I live in Missouri I don't get the opportunity to see and photograph steam very often.

Knock the big yellow and grey all you want. Nobody else in this day and age has or does provides us with such a spectacular steam show!

Cheers

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by marknewton

QUOTE: Originally posted by csmith9474

The UP cut the piston rods of the one that went to Dallas. I have heard of railroads "sabotaging" locomotives beyond being operable before donating them to various organizations.

A lot of roads cut piston rods to enable dead locomotives to be moved easily in train. Cutting them required less time and effort than removing the connecting rod. So sabotage may not have been the motive at all. At any rate, making a new piston rod is a fairly simple job, so cutting it would not prevent a loco from being returned to service.

All the best,

Mark.

But accusing the Union Pacific of everything from kicking puppies to starting World War 3 is more fun.

[ezielinski]

The BigBoy on display in Omaha, NE had it's connecting rods cut so that it was easily moved from storage to it's final resting place. I to have heard that it was common practice to cut the rods.

[marknewton]

QUOTE: Originally posted by csmith9474

The UP cut the piston rods of the one that went to Dallas. I have heard of railroads "sabotaging" locomotives beyond being operable before donating them to various organizations.

A lot of roads cut piston rods to enable dead locomotives to be moved easily in train. Cutting them required less time and effort than removing the connecting rod. So sabotage may not have been the motive at all. At any rate, making a new piston rod is a fairly simple job, so cutting it would not prevent a loco from being returned to service.

All the best,

Mark.

[waltersrails]

all i have seen is display.

[csmith9474]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Texas Zepher

QUOTE: Originally posted by csmith9474
Didn't the UP do their best to sabotage these things so they weren't operable?

No, you are thinking of the NS. They took two working steam locomotives, took them out of service, and destroyed critical parts. If there was any place a Big Boy could run practically, the UP would restore one.

I remember the reason I thought that. The UP cut the piston rods of the one that went to Dallas. I have heard of railroads "sabotaging" locomotives beyond being operable before donating them to various organizations.

[Anonymous]

Last time I was in Cheyenne there was one fenced in a park east of downtown. I have slides of it if anyone wants to know the road number.

[Texas Zepher]

QUOTE: Originally posted by csmith9474
Didn't the UP do their best to sabotage these things so they weren't operable?

No, you are thinking of the NS. They took two working steam locomotives, took them out of service, and destroyed critical parts. If there was any place a Big Boy could run practically, the UP would restore one.

[ezielinski]

Why wouldn't U.P want one of them restored to working order? Because they didn't do it first?

[csmith9474]

Didn't the UP do their best to sabotage these things so they weren't operable? This reminds me of the BS that Age of Steam fell for with that proposed movie. They rolled the thing and that was about it.

[ezielinski]

There is also a Big Boy (#4017) on display at the Wisconsin Railway Museum in Green Bay.

[n2mopac]

There is also a Big Boy on display at the museum of transportation in St. Louis, MO (near Kirkwood). As for one running again, this has been debated here many times before, but I would say for a number of reasons (size, cost, weight, wear and tear on curved track, etc.) that we have seen our last running Big Boy.

Ron

[pcarrell]

This is a thread with a link to a Challenger on the move;

http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=56525