Will a Big Boy ever be returned to service

Maybe I'll become repetitive, but, to give the legs to such a project, it is necessary to switch the focus from norml revenue service to a turistic service.
Think about how many from all the world will leave to Cheyenne to see the "World largest steam locomotive of all time".
The meney should come from the Town, the County, the State, everybody can gain money from such an operation. UP should only ask for the necessary money to keep the operation running and making a normal profit.
But... to run something like this the real only necessary issue is somebody that belive in it.
 
Returning large steam to service...

One thing I have not seen mentioned here is the maintenance of way (MOW) concerns regarding these larger locomotives.

If my memory serves me correctly UP had some major issues upon the original delivery of the Big Boys in that they had insufficient clearance at many locations, at a time when large steam locomotives were common. Does any one know what the plate (maximum clearance dimensions) is for one?

Additionally there is the issue of weight. One might wonder if the current Union Pacific infrastructure is capable of supporting such a monster. The locomotive places 1,208,750 lbs. (548,289 kilograms) in a space of 132 feet 10 inches (40.4876 meters). That works out to be 9,099 pounds per foot, or 13,542.146 kilograms per meter. Not to be forgotten in this is also detrimental effect any reciprocating side rod steam locomotive has on the track itself, the infamous "pounding" from the weight of the side rods and counterweights.

So it does not surprise me that any major railroad is reluctant to have a similarly sized steam locomotive operating over its trackage.
 
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Watching the "Last of the Giants" video the UP restoration crew was asked the very same question, and they said that the facilities just don't exist to run that big of a locomotive anymore. They also stated that the loco would not be able to travel very far from its home base, simply because its too heavy for most of the RR bridges. Sorry to be another agent of "gloom and doom" but restoring the thing just ain't practical (as far as operating area is concerned, due to size and weight). Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see one restored, but the thing is just so darn big! However, AndreaLuigi, you made a very good point there, it would attract a lot of people. Who knows if it is possible or not? Only time can tell.;)

Sam
 
Here comes some sacrilege:
Fix one up and send it to Australia!
Why? They have far more open space to run one.
Just imagine running a Bigboy for a portion of a run on the Ghan.:)

But in all seriousness I agree with TSwenson and trainzsam
Just think about how much has change from 1941/55 to now (2008). How much trackage has been lost (to subdivisions and growth)? How much track has been re-laid/replaced?
Don’t forget these things are like a 1974 Chevy Caprice. Big, HEAVY and require lots of fuel.

My comment about sending one to Australia is about half true. If memory serves me correctly there is a stretch of track that would make a great location to run it. 300 miles of dead straight track. The only problem is that (I believe) it is in the middle of desert. So railfanning might be a little hard.
So other than that I don’t believe we will see one on the rails under steam for a long time.

Now what I would like to see would is to have one fully restored. But then put sealed storage.That way we could have at least one preserved for hopefully my great grandkids to see ( and possibly run). My son is now 10 so it should be a while before I could become a granddad.


Well my flight of fancy is over for this week.
Thanks for playing along.
Kenny
 
Realize that if one is restored and everything by some miracle does work out there will be a very large crowd waiting. Even though there might be issues anything is possible with $$$ and working out the kinks that may be down the tracks.
 
I can't believe in the richest country in the world that the resources can't be found to restore one to working condition.

The question of where it could run is a different matter
 
Hmm.... I would love to see a big boy running but the Cost would be astronomical....Think how much fuel it would take(was it oil or coal, think it was coal)
 
One Readers Opinion.

Not that we can't all dream of such a thing. It's all about the benjamins. Extremely cost prohibitive. I was reading an article on Milwaukee 261, obviously not a Big Boy, but it is "half" of one. The figure to get it running in 1998 dollars was $750,000 with mostly volunteer labor. Today you can figure a cool million times two for a Big Boy. Just to get it under steam again. There would be some issue with boiler overhang on mainline curves, i.e.cornering signals, trains in sidings, etc. There not being any turntables large enough to turn a Big Boy is irrelevent and so is its weight. A wye is perfect. If a Northern can make it around it, so can a Big Boy. As far as the weight goes, it may be a 1.2+million pound locomotive but all the weight is displaced. For instance it has 540,000 lbs on its drivers / by eight axles = 67,500 lbs per axle. A C44-9 has 400,000+lbs on it's drivers / six axles = 66,666 lbs per axle. Get it? As far as us shipping one off to Abu Dhabi to have a stainless steel boiler fitted out, re-tubed, and tested. I'm not even going to respond... and that may be quite possibly the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. We do it in the USofA all the time. FFS it would cost a hundred thousand dollars just to ship it there.
So maybe we should all write Warren Buffett a big sappy letter for a "TEN MILLION DOLLAR DONATION". The man does seem to love railroads lately. Because after you've got your Big Boy, bought and built a home for it, connected it to a main, trainsported it there, found enough volunteer experts to work on it, disassembled it, removed all the asbestos and lead paint, inspected the boiler and every moving part, replaced the tubes and staybolts, reassembled and tested it you're still only half there. Then there's the 25+ passenger cars you'd have to beg, borrow, or steal. Insurance, marketing, more volunteers, finding enough people to ride the dam thing, and a railroad that is going to let you use their main that's close enough to a population base so that going to ride the train isn't cost prohibitive. Oh! Did I mention insurance? After all that you might have enough money left over to invite Warren out for a cup of coffee and a slice of pie.
 
1. the big boys are on perminent loans to there display areas, none could be taken out to operate
2. might i say that the big boy weighs considerably more then any modern diesil? more then half the bridges on UP's line couldn't support it! (this was a study done by a group of railfans awhile ago)
3. the cost and time. It took #3985 from 1998 until 2005 to return to service while her boiler was replaced. The total cost topped $2 mil!

There was a rumer going around that the cab forward in the sacramento was going to repoed by UP because the museum violated this line in the contract with SP "the engine MUST be kept in an operating state". However, all us SP fans have yet to see ANY sign that it will EVER move again. :(

With the incresed cost of oil and other fosil fuels i'm not supprised that UP is acually considering stopping the steam program (learned this from an engineer while railfanning in limon). Since the program is at the verge of ending, i'd doubt they would get another engine to restore.
 
What weighs more a ton of bricks or a ton of feathers?

Okay the Big Boy weighs 1.2 million pounds with its tender loaded.
It is spread over 132ft. and 12 axles for the locomotive and another 7 for the tender. 63,158lbs. per axle.
Five ore cars weighs 1.4 million pounds fully loaded.
It is spread over 125ft.-160ft. and 20 axles 71,500lbs. per axle.

So let's stop saying that the Big Boy is too heavy.
 
Come on, It's all about money....

8) I heard a statistic the other day, about charity...

The people of the United States of America, contribute more money to charity(taxed or not), than all the corporate contributions(USA) combined...

If you can have a "BigBoy" declared a National Historic Registered item, you can get government grants to aid in restoration.

How else? Another country can finance it, if you give them credit, and national recognition(re:The Chrysler Building in New York, NY).

Can a "BigBoy" Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 run again?


YES!
 
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they could run again but as i stated before (and many people also did)
"all the engines are on PERMINANT loan to there current locations"
 
What I'm about to say here you guys may think I'm crazy, but they already did this in the UK. Do you guys think it's possible to rebuilt one from scratch? They tested a steam engine that was literally built from scratch that weighs 170 tons just four days ago called the LNER Peppercorn Pacific Tornado.
 
good question. I just said what i've been told.

well i just got my reply from the california state railway museum, yes the cab forward is now under Up's possesion but they don't want it in wyoming at all. would cost too much is what UP told the museum. They don't want to spend money on even a new coat of paint for the volenters at the museum to paint it in i doub't there gunna spend millions on a new boiler. Much as it is a favorite railroad of many people up is cheap, C-h-e-a-p.
 
Now just a minute...

:cool: Excuse me!

UP, HAS poured MILLIONS, into their Steam Project!

No one in this world, can prevent anyone from restarting a BigBoy!

It takes work, but hounding on some corporate entity, won't get anything done.

Write, write, sell lemonade, write, sell watermelons, write, sell big Bill Gates on the idea, write, get a government grant, heck, get WalMart colors and paint it to advertise for WalMart, write Warren Buffet, but don't bang blame on the Largest Railroad in the World, or anyone else, for your failure!
 
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In 1998 here in Dallas there was an official announcement that 4018, which resides in the Age of Steam Museum, would be rebuilt to operational status to appear in a movie. Two years later financing for the movie fell through and nothing more was ever heard about it. The cost to resort it was estimated between $700,000 to $1,000,000. I visit the museum every year during the state fair and last I saw it had been repainted in it's original scheme but still sitting in the same spot.

The ill fated Big Boy restoration site.

P.S. The Big Boy's are not on loan they were donated by UP just like the DDA40X.
 
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