Nice! I was just wondering today when they’d put a fire in her belly.
Progress.... Looking forward to video clips of 4014 moving under its own power. Is the cab back in place and the lagging installed?
Keystoned Ed posted:Progress.... Looking forward to video clips of 4014 moving under its own power. Is the cab back in place and the lagging installed?
Hi Ed:
Today the Union Pacific Railroad put out a press release and this press release can be read on their Twitter Page. below is the link and the cab is back in place and the lagging is installed.
They did attach two file photos but no new photos.
Google News & Associated Press have reported on the UP’s press release.
https://mail.google.com/mail/u...PppcjDcPDlcFbgXdqfMR
Gary: Rail-fan & Model Railroader
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The Ongoing Story from the Union Pacific Steam Shop
At 1:12PM RMT today the 4014 is heating up. These images are from the Union Pacific Steam Club.
Gary: Rail-fan & Model Railroader
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Gary, from another guy in Michigan, thanks for the time you spend keeping us updated. I've appreciated it.
Anyone have any ideas what kind of burner that is?
Wow, the photo of her with smoke coming out of the stacks that isn't piped in for the effect (like 4023 had at Omaha for a while, from a steam line from the shops when she was down at track level).
I just don't have the words... 
I wonder if everything is back together and the rods are on?
Like many (if not all) of you, I want to know the first time she moves under her own power. I bet there'll be quite a crowd the first time Ed pulls back on the throttle.
I'm no fan of UP, but I get the exoticness and historical importance of having an operational Big Boy.
Tom A posted:Gary, from another guy in Michigan, thanks for the time you spend keeping us updated. I've appreciated it.
HI Tom
Your welcome. Thanks for taking a look, I appreciate it. I would like to hear from you, please feel free to hit me up with an e-mail.
Below is an image I forgot to add, it is a side view of the drivers.
Two discussion questions:
#1 - On the outside of the 4014 where is the inlets for the oil burner?
#2 - On a car we have an air cleaner with a filter. Is there a filter system for the oil burners to keep out dust & dirt?
Gary: Rail-fan & Model Railroader
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trainroomgary posted:Two discussion questions:
#1 - On the outside of the 4014 where is the inlets for the oil burner?
#2 - On a car we have an air cleaner with a filter. Is there a filter system for the oil burners to keep out dust & dirt?
No Big Boy expert, but on most oil burners, the burner itself is positioned at the front of the fire box, between the frames. You normally wouldn't easily be able to see it.
No, no filters are used. In fact, on an oil burner, great quantities of sand are deposited into the firebox in order to scour the tubes and flues of soot!
So the rods are on?
I keep wondering when she'll move on her own power for the very first time, even just a few feet. Talk about a historical moment!
I wouldn't be surprised to find out that she already has.
wow what a sight thanks for pix
R. Hales posted:I wouldn't be surprised to find out that she already has.
Nor would I (the people in that roundhouse, I'm sure, can't wait to see it move alone), but I'm dying to see photos of a complete, UP 4000 under steam!
A short video from Ed Dickens
Steam Shop / Heritage Manager for the Union Pacific Railroad. (April 15, 2019)
UP Steam Team’s Ed Dickens gives a quick update on a portion of the 4014 reassembly: valve gear, insulation and boiler & steam lines. • Video shared process from UP Steam Shop, Facebook
Gary: Rail-fan & Model Railroader
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Oh my God...
All that new plumbing up on top of the boiler indicates that they have removed the Wilson Blowdown Sludge Separator system! That was the excellent boiler blow down system that Alco used which did a great job of keeping the boiler clean while moving over the road. The 800s, 3900 Challengers, and the Big Boys all had these sludge removers on them.
This same Ed Dickens-inspired "improvement and simplification" was done to to 844 a few years ago, which resulted in worst case of boiler sludge, scale and crap build-up in the boiler that I have ever seen! Better get your pictures on Day 1, before this thing dies from the boiler becoming totally plugged with sludge.
FORMER OGR CEO - RETIRED posted:Oh my God...
All that new plumbing up on top of the boiler indicates that they have removed the Wilson Blowdown Sludge Separator system! That was the excellent boiler blow down system that Alco used which did a great job of keeping the boiler clean while moving over the road. The 800s, 3900 Challengers, and the Big Boys all had these sludge removers on them.
This same Ed Dickens-inspired "improvement and simplification" was done to to 844 a few years ago, which resulted in worst case of boiler sludge, scale and crap build-up in the boiler that I have ever seen! Better get your pictures on Day 1, before this thing dies from the boiler becoming totally plugged with sludge.
Did Ed provide a justification for this removal? I'm curious.
This should make it even more exciting!
**EDITED**
From what I understand, UP notoriously had "bad water". That could have been anything from high suspended solids to high calcium content. Chemicals are typically added to encourage precipitation of these solids aka "mud". The solids end up on the bottom of the boiler. They (most) flushed out with the bottom blow.
The Wilson Blowdown Separator centrifugally separated the "mud" from the water. Going out on a limb here, I would expect that this device would be more efficient use of water.
I have a few questions:
Does UP use municipal potable water? Perhaps the water used today is inherently "better".
Is there a Zeolite water softener anywhere in the system?
Do UP boilers get an intensive wash-down after each excursion?
FORMER OGR CEO - RETIRED posted:Oh my God...
All that new plumbing up on top of the boiler indicates that they have removed the Wilson Blowdown Sludge Separator system! That was the excellent boiler blow down system that Alco used which did a great job of keeping the boiler clean while moving over the road. The 800s, 3900 Challengers, and the Big Boys all had these sludge removers on them.
This same Ed Dickens-inspired "improvement and simplification" was done to to 844 a few years ago, which resulted in worst case of boiler sludge, scale and crap build-up in the boiler that I have ever seen! Better get your pictures on Day 1, before this thing dies from the boiler becoming totally plugged with sludge.
What will you say when it makes it to Day 2?
Rich did not mean day 1 literally. Boiler sludge takes time to accumulate. But if not properly taken care of it is only a matter of time.
Oh I get what he meant, but I have to laugh at his and other's continual doomsday warnings.
FORMER OGR CEO - RETIRED posted:Oh my God...
All that new plumbing up on top of the boiler indicates that they have removed the Wilson Blowdown Sludge Separator system! That was the excellent boiler blow down system that Alco used which did a great job of keeping the boiler clean while moving over the road. The 800s, 3900 Challengers, and the Big Boys all had these sludge removers on them.
This same Ed Dickens-inspired "improvement and simplification" was done to to 844 a few years ago, which resulted in worst case of boiler sludge, scale and crap build-up in the boiler that I have ever seen! Better get your pictures on Day 1, before this thing dies from the boiler becoming totally plugged with sludge.
Do you know if the 3985 still has hers? And aren’t there other ways to clean a boiler of sludge and scale?
FORMER OGR CEO - RETIRED posted:Number 90 posted:...The institutional knowledge of how to descend steep grades using only air brakes went out the door with the retirement of Engineers and Road Foremen who had done it.
Mention "cycle braking" and you'll get the same look. They only teach them what they need to know to get over the road when everything is working properly.
I understand and have done stretch braking, but cycle braking is a term I've never heard before. What is it?
I have a certain history with 4014. When I belonged to the AGHR railroad club we would visit the 4014 at the Pomona Fairgrounds, I had the pleasure of sticking my head into the firebox, it is big, very BIG. We visited it when there was a train show at the fairgrounds, back in the good old days.
I plan on chasing it also when it comes to California from where it came.
JoelMarksbury posted:I understand and have done stretch braking, but cycle braking is a term I've never heard before. What is it?
It's a method of controlling the speed of a train down a long grade without pi**ing away your air or heating up the brake shoes excessively.
Tranz4mr posted:Photo from the steam shop yesterday 4/17/19 showing the tender waiting outside.
Sitting outside because they won't use it. They will slap "4014" on 3985's tender and call it a day
Spoony81 posted:Sitting outside because they won't use it. They will slap "4014" on 3985's tender and call it a day
Oh no!! Maybe they already did and it’s sitting outside with 4014 painted on it!!! 
Hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like a empty coal bunker in the tender.
Chuck Sartor posted:Hard to tell from the picture, but it looks like a empty coal bunker in the tender.
Exactly, you can clearly see the empty coal bunker.
Plus, it seems to lack the plumbing for the AWT's that 3985's tender has:
Rusty
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Spoony81 posted:Tranz4mr posted:Photo from the steam shop yesterday 4/17/19 showing the tender waiting outside.
Sitting outside because they won't use it. They will slap "4014" on 3985's tender and call it a day
Makes sense, it was already configured to haul oil. They can change over 4014's tender later from coal whenever they feel like it.
Spoony81 posted:Tranz4mr posted:Photo from the steam shop yesterday 4/17/19 showing the tender waiting outside.
Sitting outside because they won't use it. They will slap "4014" on 3985's tender and call it a day
Good chance this is a temporary solution. You can see the time crunch the crew is on right now; if they spend more time converting the 4014’s tender to oil, it may not be ready for the celebration.
More progress photos posted 4/18/19 to the FB UP Steam Club Page.
"...Big Boy's rebuilt air brake system and the cold water turbine that delivers water from the tender to the Elesco TP503 exhaust steam injector.
"The cold water turbine was designed for a 4000-class locomotive to deliver massive water quantities to the Big Boy’s boiler. In the upper-left corner you can see the fuel line running along side the firebox."
Enjoy!
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What is the green box with the push button?
Chuck Sartor posted:What is the green box with the push button?
That's the ejection button in case one of the critics of the UP Steam Program enters the cab. Some people say the critics deserve it; others say the UP steam director has no way to deal with them logically, so he has resorted to this extreme method.
Chuck Sartor posted:What is the green box with the push button?
Cab signal acknowledgement button? I recall Steve Lee in some video somewhere talking about how the 844 had a little lever in its cab that he had to flip whenever the signals changed otherwise an audible warning sound would continue to go off.
2 more appliances stripped off 3985.
There is nothing "new" in that air brake setup. That's an old #8 air brake system. Parts for that system are no longer made, stocked or even cared about. I hope UP has a good stock of #8 brake valve parts on hand, because no one else has any.
Almost every other steam locomotive operator in the country has changed over to a modern, pressure maintaining, #26 air brake system. Replacement 26 brake valves are available in every diesel shop in the country.
Using this old air brake system makes no sense to me at all.
