[h=2]Straight off the Employee website. Union Pacific Acquires Big Boy Locomotive No. 4014[/h]July 23, 2013 Union Pacific today announced it reached an agreement with the Southern California Chapter - Railway & Locomotive Historical Society in Pomona, Calif., to transfer ownership of one of the world's largest steam locomotives, Big Boy No. 4014, back to UP. Union Pacific plans to relocate No. 4014 to Cheyenne, Wyo., where Union Pacific's Heritage Fleet Operations team will work to restore it to operating condition. Details regarding those efforts will be made public at a later date. Union Pacific donated No. 4014 to the historical society December 7, 1961. The locomotive arrived January 8, 1962, at its current display location at the Rail Giants Train Museum in Pomona. No other railroad has retained its historical equipment or honored its American roots like Union Pacific. "Our steam locomotive program is a source of great pride to Union Pacific employees past and present," said Ed Dickens, senior manager-Heritage Operations. "We are very excited about the opportunity to bring history to life by restoring No. 4014."
Very exciting! I remember going to steam town as a small child and seeing a Big Boy and thinking how awesome it would be to see it run. Now I should actually get to see one in action! Now we just need CSX to do an Allegheny lol...
Just to pick a nit with a previous poster, this hasn't been a rumor for months. It's been a fact for months that UP wanted to rebuild one of them, Pamona's in particular. The news here is that they inked a deal.
The turntable at Cheyenne was built for the Big Boys back in steam's heyday. They fit, but only just barely. I don't know what TTs or wyes on the system can accommodate such a large locomotive.
They won't wye it or turn it except on rare occasions, and at the turntable at Cheyenne. They'll plan the trips accordingly so that they can just run through. Problem solved.
Right on the same turntable they used at the Cheyenne, WY engine facility when it was still in operation.
As long as the curves in the wyes are not too sharp there should be no problem. The articulated design of the locomotive is quite forgiving. The long rigid centipede tenders are the big problem. For moving the Big Boy from the Dallas fair grounds to the new museum in Frisco, they are having to jack some of the tender wheel sets up and brace them so that the flanges clear the rails on tight curves. I have heard they can also do that for the back wheels for a short turn table so the rear of the tender is hanging way out but clearing the rails as it is swung around.
I can almost see the one at Steamtown from my house,LOL!! This is really exciting to me,can't wait to see one run in person.I've seen 4012 moving,but not under it's own power.I think you guys are over estimating the limitations of where you can run one of these monsters.There's nothing special here in Scranton to accommodate one,yet,they ran it on point here on at least one excursion being pushed by diesels.I think the biggest limitation of a Bigboy is it's massive weight,not turning radius.2012 was on the rails here all the way from Vermont,but,had no water in her.BIG difference..You know that under full power,on average,they use 1000 gallons of water,and a ton of coal a mile?Gonna be interesting to see how they're gonna feed it on the road,LOL!!
My guess is they will convert it to oil like they did to the 3985 after they were starting too many brush fires along its route.
Well, I've seen 3985 in person. I've seen 4449 in person. I guess I have to add another awesome loco to that list! This is great news!
Any idea what they had to do or give to get the locomotive from the Pomona group. Having dealt with them in the past, they have always been VERY protective with 'their' engines and absolutely opposed to ANY outside help. They also REFUSED the idea of restoring anything to operating status, or even cosmetic restoration, preferring to keep everything in 'as is' appearance (and locked up away from the public eye).
