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Wednesday, April 30, 2014
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Kevin Morgan
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Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV
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1647 (Add a Comment)
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Caliente (UP)
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Union Pacific
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The cab of UP 4014, clearly marking its number and its type, during its stop in Las Vegas. The Big Boy has a 4-8-8-4 wheel configuration, a 68 inch driver diameter, 23 3/4 inch x 32 inch cylinders and has 540,000lbs on the drivers. It was built in September 1941 by ALCO (American Locomotive Company) and ran for 20 years on UP, attaining 1,031,205 miles in active service. It has been on static display in Pomona, CA for over fifty years. It was placed at the museum on January 8, 1962.
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Wednesday, April 30, 2014
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Kevin Morgan
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Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV
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2220 (Add a Comment)
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Caliente (UP)
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Union Pacific
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Union Pacific already has a mighty impressive fleet of heritage equipment when you consider two steam engines ("Challenger" 4-6-6-4, UP 3985 and "Northern" 4-8-4, UP 844) as well as active E9s (UP 951 and 949) and a DDA40X (UP 6936). In 2012, they announced they wanted to bring one of the eight surviving "Big Boy" 4-8-8-4 steam locomotives back into active service. None of the eight survivors has been capable of running under steam in decades. In 2013, UP announced that UP 4014 would be reacquired from the RailGiants Train Museum in Pomona, CA. In January 2014, it was moved to UP's West Colton Yard. Then, in late April 2014, it started its journey to Cheyenne to be rebuilt and reactivated. Here is a shot of the unit on display in Las Vegas. I happened to be in town on a business trip and things worked out perfect for a quick stop.
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Wednesday, April 30, 2014
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Kevin Morgan
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Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV
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1688 (Add a Comment)
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Caliente (UP)
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Union Pacific
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A look at the train taking UP 4014 from California to Cheyenne, WY. It was stopped in Las Vegas for public viewing on April 30, 2014. UP used two SD70Ms as power on the train. Which two did they select? Why UP 4014 and UP 4884 of course! For the time being, the steam engine has technically be renumbered as UPP 4014 so as not to confuse it with UP 4014 in the computers. No doubt UP 4014 (the SD70M) will be renumbered when UP 4014 (the Big Boy) comes on the roster. If all goes according to plan, that is supposed to happen sometime in 2017.
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Wednesday, April 30, 2014
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Kevin Morgan
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Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV
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1586 (Add a Comment)
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Caliente (UP)
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Union Pacific
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Only 25 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" steam locomotives were built, and all 25 went to Union Pacific. They were in service for roughly 20 years, from 1941 to 1961. Fortunately eight of the units were preserved after their retirement more than 50 years ago. All eight were put on static display, incapable of operating under their own steam. That will soon no longer be the case for UP 4014. UP reacquired the unit (in exchange for a caboose, an insulated box car, and an SD40-2. After 52 years of being on display in Pomona, CA, UP 4014 is "headed home" to Cheyenne, WY.
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Wednesday, April 30, 2014
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Kevin Morgan
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Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV
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1678 (1 Comment Posted)
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Caliente (UP)
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Union Pacific
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Here is a shot of the front end of the boiler on UP 4014. The Big Boys were designed in a cooperative effort between ALCO and UP. UP's Challenger locomotives (4-6-6-4) could not handle heavier trains alone over the grade on the Overland Route. The articulated Big Boys (4-8-8-4) were the solution. The could easily handle the heavier trains and maintain speeds over 60 MPH. The last revenue run of a Big Boy was on July 21, 1959 with the arrival of a train in Green River, WY. Most of the 25 units were kept in operational condition (although stored) until 1961. Four were kept until 1962.
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Wednesday, April 30, 2014
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Kevin Morgan
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Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV
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1627 (Add a Comment)
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Caliente (UP)
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Union Pacific
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UP 4014 (temporarily renumbered in the computer to UPP 4014), a Big Boy 4-8-8-4 steam locomotive that has been on static display for over fifty years, now sits in Las Vegas on its journey to Cheyenne, WY in order to be brought back to life! The Big Boy is 132 feet long, making it roughly 34 feet longer than the longest diesel locomotive (the DDA40X). It also weighs an impressive 625 tons (including the tender). Its boiler has a capacity of 25,000 gallons and its tender can hold 28 tons of coal. The UP Steam team has reported the goal is to convert UP 4014 from burning coal to burning oil. UP attempted this with UP 4005 over fifty years ago without success. The reported issue was the fact that a single burner did not evenly work in the boiler. Hopefully this new attempt will include multiple burners!
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Wednesday, April 30, 2014
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Kevin Morgan
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Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV
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1498 (Add a Comment)
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Caliente (UP)
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Union Pacific
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Union Pacific is pretty darn good at PR when it comes to their excursion and heritage fleet. In addition to just the nice list of locomotives they have preserved (and operational), they also enjoy being very selective when it comes to picking units that run on special excursion trains. Case-in-point is this shot. UP 4884 was assigned (along with UP 4014) to the train that is moving UP 4014 (the Big Boy), which is a 4-8-8-4 locomotive, from California to Cheyenne, WY!
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Wednesday, April 30, 2014
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Kevin Morgan
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Las Vegas
Las Vegas, NV
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1773 (Add a Comment)
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Caliente (UP)
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Union Pacific
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I had to take multiple steps pacing backward in order to capture all of UP 4014 in a single frame! It will certainly be amazing to see this 4-8-8-4 running under its own steam after more than fifty years of sitting idle. It is currently scheduled to become active again in 2017. Unfortunately, at the time of this photo, UP actually has no steam locomotives in operable service. Pretty major damage was found inside the boiler of UP 844 and UP 3985 has been sidelined since 2011 as it is in need of rebuild attention too, apparently. 2014 may be the first year since Union Pacific's inception nearly 150 years ago that not a single UP steam locomotive will run!
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