According to Ed Dickens, 3985 has been retired. There are currently no plans to return it to operating condition as the Big Boy and 844 will be their priority. The steam shop does not have the staff or resources to be able to maintain three locomotives, and 4014 won out over 3985. If you want, I have him on video stating this.
If true, look at it this way, they're not going to throw it out!
Remember hope floats, despair sinks.
Unfortunate
Actually Big Boy and Challenger, both made by ALCO are very similar except for more wheels on the Big Boy. Challenger is sort of a "Little Boy".
I was hoping to see all 3 run a Triple Header one day.
Maybe they will send Challenger to the Railroad Museum in Pomona Cal. where 4014 sat for 50+ years but not likely.
Hopefully they keep her for the future. The 4014 doesn't need to be in operation indefinitely. Would be nice to see them be swapped around every few decades.
That is right. I think it will run someday. The thing is, UP has said they can have two locomotives. There simply is not the manpower to have and keep three running. But for now, it is retired.
Because federal regulations stipulate, an engine's guts are examined periodically, and the inspection and necessary work revealed kept UP 844 out of service for about 2 or 3 years last time.
Suppose UP envisions, (PR and Advert Dept)..., that it needs two engines available at any time.
Suppose that UP 4014 enters the starting rotation. If 1 of the 3 is in that 2 year R&R, there's still 2; at worst, (UP 844, Sacto, Boiler tube let go) there'd still be one to carry Uncle Pete's flag in a parade......
Fingers crossed that this is plan B.....
Pomona already has made a trade for the 4014 with the donated equipment going in on the same panel track that the 4014 came out on. There's no reason to believe that any iron horse trading of 3 or 4 steam locomotives owned by the same number of different organizations is going to happen here. The 4014 once again belongs to Union Pacific and the transaction is closed.
That said, I believe that the 5511 has been made available for preservation and likely is still available if the right group came calling. And if they're smart, they will hold on to the 838 for her boiler (The locomotive I assume you're referencing instead of the 832, a number with no apparent significance here since the first UP 832 was sold over a century ago and surely is long gone, the Northern with that number was scrapped in 1962, the GP30 of that number was sold nearly 30 years ago and repowered with a CAT engine and is likely still kicking somewhere, and the current UP and UPY 832's both still are active for UP).
Hopefully when the day comes that she isn't a parts source, she'll be cosmetically restored and preserved. Would be a shame to see a Northern go to scrap in the 21st century.
No problem, I was thinking the parts source was the 833 so I'm no better. Just happened to double check just in case and realized that she's the one in Ogden. Wonder if she has ever been a parts contributor for the 844?
I don't think I ever knew that an early example of UP's Northerns was preserved until just now thanks to double checking that number (The 814 is preserved in Council Bluffs). I thought they went the way of the dodo bird just like the early model Challengers sadly did.
Glad to see that wasn't the case.
ACYI have no inside info on this, but here's a thought that might prompt a bar fight: 3985 was always a coal burner in pre-excursion service, so she never operated into the L.A. area in steam days. On the other hand, the 4-6-6-4 preserved at North Platte (3977, I believe) was assigned to passenger service, and did operate into L.A. If a 4-6-6-4 goes to Pomona, I should think the 3977 would be the more appropriate choice. In the same vein, 4-12-2 9000 at Pomona never operated in Southern California, but 2-10-2 5511 (or sister engines like her) did operate there. I believe U.P. 832, a Cheyenne parts engine, also operated into L.A. If an engine needs to go to L.A., I suggest that the 832, 5511, or 3977 would be better choices, and 9000 ought to be returned to the area where she operated. My own prejudice is that preserved locomotives, in most cases, should be displayed in the general area where they have a real connection. A real understanding of history is fostered by keeping historical artifacts in some sort of context, and confusion can result from displaying items out of context.
The thing is, not every locomotive should be returned to the area in which it operated, the St. Louis Museum of Transport has a very extensive collection, and if it's current steam locos were returned to their originating areas, they would only have 5-6(?) of them left, compared to the 33 or 34(?) current steam locos they have now. p.s.- The (?) next to numbers means those numbers are not exact, just a quick collection inventory I did in my head.
Lets hope she'll just stay on the back burner until A: UP has one steamer out on 1472 inspection. OR B: UP will keep her until they do have the shop resources to run 3 steamers. Lets hope It is one of those, preferably plan B. With plan B she'll be brought back for longer periods of time. I never did see #3985, now I regret it. She came through my hometown 2 years ago, which was, unfortunately, before I got into railroading. I hope for the best.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouHpn-dnycA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouHpn-dnycA
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
Edi Dickens, the head of the UP Steam program "From a company standpoint, it (the 3985) is considered retired." That was may 17, 2014.Now you say "As of this notice: UP CHALLENGER 4-6-6-4 3985 WILL NOT BE RETIRED."So, first of all, where is your source, and who is your contact for you to make that statement? Either Ed flatout led, or you have info none of us, including Ed Dickens, head of UP Steam has, or they flip flop like a presidential candidate on the status of the locomotive....So, what is it? Is 3985 retired? From what I heard Ed say, yes.
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