pittsburghrailfan posted:gunrunnerjohn posted:This has gotten ridiculous, so I'm checking out of this thread. I fail to understand how anyone that's interested in steam can be so negative about getting the BB back on the rails! Sure, maybe the first time out they'll be taking baby steps, only the people who actually are in the know have that answer to exactly how hard they'll push the locomotive. However, I will assure you that they didn't spend two years and a ton of money restoring 4014 to let it be towed around by another locomotive for the rest of it's operating career! Do all the naysayers have the same reaction to all the other steam restorations or is this vitriol just reserved for the BB and/or the UP RR? I'm pretty happy that at least one class 1 RR still has a steam program!
Gee guys, get a life, how can anyone be so down on something as cool at this? I'm outta' here, the negativity here is getting pretty boring.
Can't say I speak for anyone in this debate, but I will attempt to clarify what I perceive as the stance of the critics, as it appears that there is a bit of misunderstanding on motivations. Then, I will make an observation of my own about the debate as it has played out over these four years.
I think that the reason several of the professional steam-men on this forum (Hotwater, Rich Melvin, etc.) appear to be critical of the program is not that they want the Big Boy restoration to fail per say, but that they take issue with the methods that the manager is using to achieve operability. In their eyes, some of what Ed is doing appears contrary to sustainable (i.e. operating the locomotive for several years) or accepted practice in restoration. The sustainability point leads into what I perceive to be the second underlying concern; that is, that the folks who are critical of the program feel that the original goal will be betrayed. From their perspective (again as I see it) the critics are worried that Ed will not complete an actual restoration and instead use smoke and mirrors to make it appear that the Big Boy is operational, which again undermines the whole point of the restoration. These two above concerns are of course laced with the disdain among some enthusiasts for any form of assistance (e.g. diesels) in operating the steamer, which seems inauthentic. Hence, at least several of the critics are not gleefully waiting for the Big Boy to fail, per say, but feel that the locomotive may not be restored to full operability.
Now, to the point expressed that UP would not spend all of this money for a static display, I think that is a valid point. However, I would venture that, with the ceremony less than two weeks away, the steam shop might cut a few corners for the Golden Spike runs (i.e. 4014 would not be fully operational), then finish their restoration for excursions this summer. Notice that, in the announcement for the CNW event that Trains reported on, the only firm detail was that UP 1995 would be there. I take that as potentially supporting my above conjecture; UP 4014 would be confirmed when the rest of the restoration work is completed.
A brief aside: I have followed a lot of these threads over the past four years. The original mega-thread that was started right after the move was infamous for contentious debates on the viability of the restoration. In my estimation, I think that criticism has actually gone down in this thread, comparatively speaking; for example, I have seen only a few comments from Rich Melvin, and almost none (if any?) from Hotwater. This may be because (IMO) there is less openness for debate than on, say, Trainorders, where the criticism is supposedly less muted.
Now for a statement of bias: I, like many railfans, am excited by the possibility of another operating steam locomotive. However, my limited accessibility to the engine (it's several hours and hundreds of dollars away from a college student in Williamsburg) means that I (and potentially other East Coasties) may not be as hyped for the excursions as we could be. Hence, I am not as passionate or emotionally invested.
My apologies for this essay; just my two cents.
Just what part of this restoration could be considered unsustainable for future operation? Both tube sheets new, all new springs, all new crank pins, all new tires, the list goes on.... It’s not smoke and mirrors. This has been a no expense spared rebuild. For anyone to suggest otherwise is being willfully blind to the facts as presented over the last 2.5 years, once the rebuilding of this locomotive began in earnest.
If one were to say, “Well none of that work was really needed, so and so would have not done that much work to put that locomotive back in steam” I would say, just who is being sloppy in that situation?
