Dominic Mazoch posted:Before the 4014 rebuild, I heard the story that the BB's were so long they could only run on some UP lines. This year 4014 ran in many places outside the pre-1982 UP. Some places 4014 could not go, like rast of the Houston Amtrak Station, so the train hadto back up to Chaney Jct.
So what caused the "change"?
William Kratville's book mentions that Big Boys were cleared for operation all the way to Los Angeles, CA. It also mentions that they occasionally took trains to North Platte, NE. So they were capable of running the entire length of the Overland Route, even in the 1940s. However, it made more sense operationally to use them on the railroad's most demanding mainline grades, which were the eastbound Wahsatch grade in Utah (1.14%) and Sherman Hill westbound (1.55% prior to 1953). The UP upgraded several turntables between Cheyenne and Ogden for that reason.
In the years since the steam era, many railroads made right of way improvements to accommodate larger, heavier rolling stock. The side effect of that is that large steamers like the Big Boy can run to more places than they could originally.
So I would say the change is due to 2 things: 1) The railroad had a desire to showcase the 4014's operational status across its system in the Golden Spike anniversary year and 2) Railroad rights of way in general are more forgiving for large loading gauge equipment than they were in the steam era.
Scott Griggs
Louisville, KY
