Weight for the two locos is hugely different, with the UP at 778K Lbs for the loco
alone, and the B&O EM1 at around 628K Lbs. less tender. The UP is also taller
and longer as well. The Big Boy was designed as an all-out effort steamer to
conquer the Wahsatch Mountains east of Ogden, Utah. UP had few weight
restrictions and big clearences. The 4000s were built big to eliminate the need
for helpers on this route...which didn't quite work out.
The EM1 is a totally different animal, and would have been an EMD FT order had
circumstances been only slightly different. As it was B&O and Baldwin got together
and designed a steamer that at the time could go head to head with a two unit
set of FT Diesels...in almost every category! Many people criticize the B&O for
building such an uninspired articulated design. In reality, the EM1 is highly
misunderstood, and underrated. This design was, in it's own right and context,
as outstanding as the Roanoke machines of fame and fortune! One has to understand that B&O was a Diesel operation at this time, and the newly bought
steamers were designed to fit into their Diesel way of thinking, both in terms of
operation, and finances. It worked amazingly well right up to the very end of
B&O steam.
