Thursday, 21 Apr, about 0900 or so, UP 3985 will head to Laramie, WY and back for a break-in run. If youhave a chance, come on out and see the action! Cheyenne is getting hammered with snow now, so the steam engine should put on a great show in this cold! Will keep you posted with pics!!!
844 is almost ready, but not this time. Along other lines, 3985 cooked a driver bearing on fireman's side. Sidelined her a mere 4 miles from the wye at Laramie, WY. Dispatcher wasn't happy! Dunno the current news, steam crew stayed in Laramie overnight last nite, to see if they could fix her in the morning. Cause is unknown. Bathed in steam at the shops about 0800, the high humidity from the previous night's snow, and chill in the air made the steam show spectacular! 'Nuking' I-80: Blasting up #3 track: Yes--a caboose!! (with a FRED )
Oops? Bummer. I hope they won't need to drop an axle, and so forth, for repairs. I wonder what happened? Lubrication failure? Wedge or other adjustment? Was all else reported to be working well? Boxcab E50
Hemi, are you and Nathan Beauheim buddies? He posted very similar pix on another site. I love seeing steam in cold weather. Big plumes. Keep em coming.
No new news from me yet.... Yes, Nathan and I are buddies, we are both in Sherman Hill Model RR Club. We regularly chase the steam engines. The 844 pic of the freshly-finished engine was his shot, with his permission.
Those are great photos, thanks for sharing. But I'm surprised Steve Lee hasn't gotten onto his fireman for letting 3985 belch that much smoke. I thought the UP prided itself on clear stacks back when they ran steam regularly.
Steve tends to be a joker at times and will gladly produce a cloud of black smoke while going under an overpass full of spectators to cover them with soot. I shot a "perfect" photo only to notice he ducked and put a cardboard cut out of Bartles & James in the cab window. Click on the image to zoom in some more. ]
