Well Union Pacific's standard fast answer is that they don't OWN any BigBoys anymore, they have all been donated to museums or cities for display in parks, or such. Union Pacific is not interested in restoring any BigBoys, first the cost is a MAJOR consideration, and also, according to Steve Lee, head of UP's Steam Program there are only two places left on the system that could still handle them (he didn't specify exactly where) weight limitations and even more importantly side clearances are the issues. Track spacing has gotten narrower since steam service ended, and as track has been realigned in places the space for a BigBoy on curves and what not is just not there. I have read (I don't remember where) that the 3985 had a side-swiping incident several years ago, and has had her running boards narrowed a total of 15 inches, because of it to avoid a repeat. The challenger is not much smaller or lighter than a BigBoy, but enough so that the 3985 can roam much of the system with few restrictions.
UP feels that the Challenger is impressive enough that a BigBoy would not be worth the extra expense for the Return on Investment, remember the entire Heritage program (excluding the recently painted SD70 ACEs) is strictly a PR function that comes nowhere near recovering its own costs. I am just Happy that Uncle Pete is keeping their Steam Program at all, it has got to be a HUGE expense to do so.
Years ago many people got excited hoping to see a BigBoy run again when a movie company expressed interest in restoring 4018 for a film, but when the estimated cost exceeded 1 million dollars, that idea died.
As with many, I would LOVE to see a BigBoy Steam again, but doubt that it will ever happen,
Doug
May your flanges always stay BETWEEN the rails
A "what if" to ponder, is what if UP had donated a BigBoy to Cheyenne, WY for display in their park? The 3985, had been displayed in a park in Cheyenne, and was restored by a group of Union Pacific employee volunteers in 1981. If it had been a BigBoy in Cheyenne's park, would we today have a BigBoy roaming the rails?, or would the restrictions of the larger locomotive have been enough to prevent the restoration altogether, in which case we wouldn't have either today?
I have always wanted to see a Big Boy run. I would also enjoy the expierience of watching the Cotton Belt railroad's number 819 roll down the rails. It's currently being restored in the Pine Bluff, Arkansas railroad museum.
Here's a link to the website:
http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/8199/cb819.html
Sorry, My Mistake. I wonder if it was the size restrictions or the condition of the locomotives, that made the difference in deciding which locomotive got restored. The 3985 had been displayed in the parking lot of UP's depot in Cheyenne, I wonder if she was still owned by UP, and if that may have been the reason she was restored instead of the 4004.
This is the one in Omaha. Due to the layout of the site, it is difficult to get a good picture.
RJ
"Something hidden, Go and find it. Go and look behind the ranges, Something lost behind the ranges. Lost and waiting for you. Go." The Explorers - Rudyard Kipling
http://sweetwater-photography.com/
Does anyone know off hand how much coal this bad boy sucks down? Say you are just standing at a station keeping it ready to move at a moment's notice, what would it take?
Edit: Found a reasonable answer to my question in the Steam&Preservation Forum.
nanaimo73 wrote:It has also been reported that a Big Boy can not be converted to burn oil instead of coal because of the firebox.
Supposedly Union Pacific did try to fire a Big Boy with oil, but it never steamed properly so the idea was abandoned.
The Challenger is a great locomotive for excursion service because the water and fuel logistics are so manageable. A full tank of oil plus a tender and two "water bottles" full of water will take the engine anywhere the crew wants to take it for one calendar day. I doubt a Big Boy would be so convenient to operate.
A year ago at some railfair, I saw an LGB-sized Big Boy operating on an exhibition hall floor. The engine was equipped with sound. Although I've seen UP 3985, under steam, cruisin' the mainline many times, seeing that model to my mind was darn near equally impressive!
Union Pacific DID convert a BigBoy to burn oil, it was the 4005, what I have read said that for reasons only UP knows, they only used one oil burner, compared to the three oil burners used in a Challenger. Whether or not it was a similar burner to the ones used in the Challengers, I don't know, I would imagine that they could be built in many configurations, but if it was similar to the Challenger's oil burners, and they only used one, it would not be surprising that it was unsuccessful.
Running a BigBoy in excursion service, if it were successfully converted to oil, the fueling and watering wouldn't be that much different from the Challenger. A steam locomotive is very sensitive to loads and grades as far as range goes, with the relatively light loads hauled in excursion service, and the often relatively short distances covered in excursion use, the BigBoy likely wouldn't need many, if any more fuel/water stops than the Challenger would. The issues of over-size clearances of the BigBoy would be much more restricting, in where it would run, than would the range of the fuel & water capacities.
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