95 replies to this topic

[Rotorranch]

 

 

One of the 17,000 lb. wheels.

 

 

Not sure

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

No way the wheels weigh 17,000 lbs each.

 

Axle weight, on the other hand, might be 17,000 lbs.

 

I'm guessing 400-600 lbs for a driver wheel on this loco. 

 

Rotor

[MSwiss]

One of customers quoted that.

He might of meant a wheel set.

[Ramcatlarry]

Parked in nearby West Chicago for the weekend.

[Ecurie Martini]

Cast iron = 442 lbs/ft cu.  Assuming 54" drivers (typical for freight locos), and guessing at the average depth and % cut-outs, ~2000- 2500 lb/driver

 

EM

[Dave Crevie]

The drivers are 68 inches in diameter, but they are hollow inside. When I was working on the 4017, we never tore it down to that point,

so I can't say exactly how much one weighs. While restoring the 4014, UP never demounted the drivers from the axles, so it is a good

bet that even they don't know the weight of each wheel. The entire wheelsets were sent to the Strasburg Railroad to have the tires

refaced. Strasburg has the only wheel lathe still operational big enough to do a 68 inch wheel. That operation is always done on a

complete wheelset with axle, since the lathe holds the wheelset by the center drilling in the axle. 17,000 pounds sound plausible for

for the complete assembly.

 

I have a copy of the Alco builder's specs for the 4017 somewhere. That info might be in there. Looks like I will have to do a search of

the upstairs "library".

[orangecrate]

This old school, massive and the sounds from this engine makes my heart pound. Thank you UP for the time and effort to bring this of history back to life. 

[MSwiss]

Some video footage, from the local ABC station, I assume shot from a helicopter, of Big Boy.

 

https://www.facebook...85393411774260/

[Zippity]

Thanks for the posts Swiss  

[Dave Crevie]

Well, she's on her way west. God speed, 4014. Thanks for bringing a bit of joy to hearts young and old.

[Half Fast]

A lot of good info here:

 

https://www.up.com/h...age/steam/4014/

 

 

 

 

 

[Dave Crevie]

One small error. 4014 was converted to burn oil.

[Martin]

Pretty cool. Mechanical dinosaurs.

I ask to ride up front while traveling as a young man in Kenya.

I will never forget the steel on steel,heat,noise and the driver kicking into neutral at 50mph, as he pointed at the speedo,and it did not drop.

 

That's a body in motion.

[jokar124]

For anyone who is interested, the current issue of  Trains  magazine (August 2019) has a nice write-up and 3 page color fold-out of Big Boy #4014 on its' earlier trip from Utah to Cheyenne, Wyoming

[Dave Crevie]

A good read

[Half Fast]

You know you are getting old when your magazine "fold out" (ie. centerfold) is a locomotive and not a lady!

 

Cheers

[Ecurie Martini]

It's interesting to look at the influence of terrain and distance on locomotive design evolution.  UK and European steam locomotives are quite different from US equipment (ignoring the WW I and immediate post-war interval when some USRA locos were used.)  On the other hand, South African and Australian iron is quite similar.

 

EM

[Dave Crevie]

We have been pretty amazed at the size of 4014, but actually, the Beyer-Garratt locomotives of the South African Railroad were much

longer. They had less tractive effort because they were lighter for the lighter rail used. But for unusual loco designs, I think they take

the prize. 

 

I was asked if I had ever been in the cab of a Big Boy. I spent a lot of days in one, checking and replacing leaky valves and performing

other restoration tasks. I have a bunch of pictures, and if you like, I can try to post some of them here. (although I think we have flogged

this horse enough) I can even tell you what all the controls do.

[SpeedyNH]

please do!

[Bill from NH]

   

[Dave Crevie]

Oh, boy! Should have kept my mouth shut. OK, here we go. A good test of just how good my memory is. The controls for the Big Boy are not a lot different than those for any other large steam locomotive.

 

 

 

This is the backhead of 4017 before we started working on it. I used a wide-angle lens, so it is a little distorted. It is

actually wider than it looks. Starting in the top center of the picture, the V-shaped structure is the cab support irons. Just to the right, the round handle is the emergency steam shut-off for the lower right side sight glass. If you follow the loop of the pipe it leads to the lower sight glass. Below the sight glass is a valve missing the handle. That is the lower shut-off for the glass. A sight glass allows a visual indication of where the level of water is in the boiler. Because the Big Boy has a very large boiler, it requires two sight glasses, spaced so that they will show the total range of water level the boiler holds. To the right is the shut-off for the upper sight glass. The small valve handle to the left of the larger one is the valve for the air ringer, that continuously rings the bell. The big handle is for the right side air pump (compressor). The short lever is the whistle. The longer lever hanging down is the throttle. Behind it are the sander valves, which blow sand from the sand domes onto the rails for better traction. To the right, the small box with the two vertical holes is the cab signal. It will give either a red or yellow light indicating if the track ahead is clear or there is a train moving ahead of you. Below that, the box with the two guage faces is the speed recorder. Below and to the right of the throttle lever, with the arch shaped attachment, is the power reverse lever. It controls whether the loco runs forward or reverse. It also allows the engineer to "chinch up" on the cylinder valve cut-off to conserve steam. The small valve with the lever just to the left of the reverse lever is the independent locomotive brake control. It controls the brakes on the loco only. Nearer to the camera, the larger valve with the lever is the train brake control. It sets the brakes on all the train cars and the locomotive. In between the reverse lever and the train brake control ( not very clear in the shot) is the valve to control the cylinder cocks. They drain the water that has condensed in the cylinders to prevent a hydraulic lock. Directly below the train brake is the A-B brake distributor. The red and yellow lever is for the lifting feed water injector which forces fresh water into the boiler. Above and to the left of the train brake is the brake line air pressure guage. The cluster of small valve handles directly below I can't for the life of me remember what they do, (warned ya!) The big valve handle in the center of those small handles starts the two dynamos (generators) located on the fireman's side, top of boiler just ahead of the cab. To the left of the air guage are the bottom shut-off for the upper sight glass, the blow-down valve which allows any dirt or debris to be blown out of the sight glass, and the lower valve for the water column that includes the try-cocks for getting a physical indication of the water level in the boiler. In the lower center of the backhead is the Butterfly fire door, which is open in this shot. The round red handle directly below is for the pneumatic grate shakers which shake the cinders off the firebox grates. Above and slightly to the left of the fire door is the valve that shuts off air to the pneumatic fire door actuator (opener). The three valves in a line diagonally are the shut-off and blow down valves for the fireman's side sight glasses. To the left and slightly below those is a set if valve arranged in a vee formation. Those are the controls for the coal distribution jets for the stoker. It is how the fireman controls how much coal goes where in the firebox. The big valve in the center is the stoker control. The valve above and to the right side of that cluster controls the overfire jets. Above it is the valve for the blower, which shoots steam up through the smokestack to create draft inside the boiler when the engine is not moving. On the left side of the boiler is a valve on an angle, that controls the feedwater heater. The smaller valve below runs the cold water pump that supplies water to the feed water heater. The weird valve in front of the fireman's seat controls the Nathan non-liftiing

feed water injector. The group of guages on that side includes the big one which is the boiler pressure guage. The smaller one to the right is the feed water temperature guage. Below that is the stoker jet pressure guage. To the left of that is the train steam heat temperature guage. The two small valves to the right of the guage cluster I don't remember. The valve below the big handwheel is for the train heating system. The big handwheel starts the left side air pump. The small valve to the right of it is the emergence shutoff for the boiler pressure guage. To the right of that is the emergency shut-off for the upper sight glass on the fireman's side. And that's it. All I can remember. I guess my brain is just turning to mush in my old age.

[Rotorranch]

Geeze, I can barely pull the trigger!    

 

 

 

Rotor

[Bill from NH]

That looks more complex than an airplane cockpit. I only notice a couple gauges to read. This should be the origination of the slot car plumber. Thanks for the photo & detailed explanation Dave.

[Dave Crevie]

For those who didn't get enough of 4014 when it made it's tour, there is another one planned on the west coast

originating from the RailGiants museum. It will be in October, the exact route has not been announced yet.

 

Sadly, it appears that Milwaukee Road S-3 number 261 (4-8-4) will not be making the Fall Colors Excursion. The

June 2018 run was cancelled, and it has not run since. The FRA and AmTrak will no longer allow steam locos to

run over common carrier trackage. The Friends of the 261, the group that sponsors the excursions headed by the

261, have purchased an E-unit diesel to pull their trains, so there are no plans to run the 261 again. Doubly sad

for me, since I helped with the original restoration on this loco in the early 1970's. 

 

The UP will continue with steam excursions that will be pulled by the 844 (4-8-4) and the Big Boy. In the future the

3985 (4-6-6-4) may be re-added to the steam roster and be pulling excursions again. The UP runs their trips on

their own trackage, and gets a pass from AmTrak because they basically told them they could schedule their trains

on someone else's line if they were going to impose rules. The UP owns the only continuous trackage from Chicago

to the west coast for AmTrak to run non-stop passenger service.       

[SpeedyNH]

wow. thanks Dave! that's amazing.

[Lou E]

Very cool, thank you for posting!