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Day 5, Today • Monday, October 17, 2016 - Union Pacific 844, Leaves Union Pacific Station, Kansas City, MO

While at Union Pacific Station, Ed Dickens, Senior Manager of UP’s Heritage Operations and his Steam Shop Crew did a four hour meet and greet on Saturday afternoon. There was a large enthusiastic crowd and Ed and his crew gave a tour and answered questions.

Today’s Schedule is as follows; Click here for updates.

Depart 8:00 a.m. CT Kansas City, MO - Schedule subject to change

Arrival 9:00 a.m. CT Buckner, Mo.   Depart 9:15 a.m. CT S. Hudson Street

Arrival 9:45 a.m. CT Lexington, Mo   Depart 10:00 a.m CT 10th Street Crossing

Arrival 11:30 a.m. CT Blackwater MO   Depart Noon. CT Route K Crossing

Arrival 12;30 p.m. Boonville, MO   Depart 12:45 p,m. Near 4th & & Water Street / Sandplant Crossing

Arrival 2:00 p.m. Jefferson City, MO  North of West Main Street, End of Missouri Blvd.

Photos from Union Pacific Corp. & Associated Press

844 Trek to Tennessee Oct 16 2016844 Punk Car for Snow Plow844 Railroad Map Oct 16 2016

Gary - Railfan

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  • 844 Trek to Tennessee Oct 16 2016
  • 844 Punk Car for Snow Plow
  • 844 Railroad Map Oct 16 2016
Last edited by trainroomgary
Dominic Mazoch posted:

I still think the real mystery is why they were on a support car instead of a passenger car.  One would think UP would have used a passenger car.

You mean you expect the office car department to allow the steam crew to dirty up one of their CUSTOMER sleeping cars???????? Besides, the snow-plow service bunk car also has a galley/kitchen it it.

 If they had two drumheads, they would fit on the railing of an opened ended observation car.

Again, do you think that the UP office car department would have a business car on such a dead-head move, for the steam crew to get it all dirty?

 Having the plow support car at the end makes it look like a work train to me.

Well, it certainly is a crying shame that the UP Executive Department didn't consult you first!

 

Hot Water posted:
Dominic Mazoch posted:

I still think the real mystery is why they were on a support car instead of a passenger car.  One would think UP would have used a passenger car.

You mean you expect the office car department to allow the steam crew to dirty up one of their CUSTOMER sleeping cars???????? Besides, the snow-plow service bunk car also has a galley/kitchen it it.

 If they had two drumheads, they would fit on the railing of an opened ended observation car.

Again, do you think that the UP office car department would have a business car on such a dead-head move, for the steam crew to get it all dirty?

 Having the plow support car at the end makes it look like a work train to me.

Well, it certainly is a crying shame that the UP Executive Department didn't consult you first!

 

Well Dominic, looks like you got "Hot Water" awake......Now you can ask him about his Buddy Ed Dickens?????.............I don't think they share much fried chicken together on Sundays.............................Just Sayin.................................................ROTFLMAO....

 

Brandy posted:
Hot Water posted:
Dominic Mazoch posted:

I still think the real mystery is why they were on a support car instead of a passenger car.  One would think UP would have used a passenger car.

You mean you expect the office car department to allow the steam crew to dirty up one of their CUSTOMER sleeping cars???????? Besides, the snow-plow service bunk car also has a galley/kitchen it it.

 If they had two drumheads, they would fit on the railing of an opened ended observation car.

Again, do you think that the UP office car department would have a business car on such a dead-head move, for the steam crew to get it all dirty?

 Having the plow support car at the end makes it look like a work train to me.

Well, it certainly is a crying shame that the UP Executive Department didn't consult you first!

 

Well Dominic, looks like you got "Hot Water" awake......Now you can ask him about his Buddy Ed Dickens?????.............I don't think they share much fried chicken together on Sundays.............................Just Sayin.................................................ROTFLMAO....

 

For peace:  NO comment about Ed

DAY 8 • Thursday, October 20th., 2016

Yesterday the Union Pacific 844 Arrived at Dexter Junction, Missouri at 4:30 PM CT. County Road 708 & County Road 712.

Today the UP Steam Shop Crew will depart Dexter Junction at 8:00 AM CT and the arrival time is 2:30 PM, Marion, Arkansas, 5500 Kuhn Road.

1 Day 8 UP 8442 Day & UP 8443 Day 8 UP 8444 Day 8 UP 844

Very impressive, No. 844's "Trek to Tennessee"  

* All schedule times and location are subject to change.

Safe travels / Gary Railfan

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  • 2 Day & UP 844
  • 3 Day 8 UP 844
  • 4 Day 8 UP 844

4 Day 8 UP 844

I agree with one of the other posters... The bunk car (if that's what it is) looks terrible.  I'm sure UP could have come up with an old observation or something similar to what CP uses on their Christmas train. If it 's a engineman's bunk car why isn' t next to the engine.   I'm sure both the head end and tail-end crew probably stay over night  in Motels.  Making a reverse move with this thing on the tail end is certainly possible but a old coach with a platform steps & back up hose   is much  easier and looks better with original marker lights.   (yep! UP should have consulted me as well)

 

 

Day 9 & 10 • October 20 & 21st., 2016 • The Living Legend.

Union Pacific's 'Living Legend' No. 844 steam locomotive will travel more than 1,200 miles one-way to celebrate the Oct. 22 opening of Big River Crossing in Memphis, Tennessee. The trek is the first multi-state venture since the locomotive's three-year restoration

Ed Dickens, Senior Manager of UP’s Heritage Operations and his Steam Shop Crew are taking Friday, October 21st. off from the UP’s Trek to Tennessee. Saturday, October 22 they will be jointed by Harley Enoch & Chase Gunnoe, correspondents  for Trains Magazine.  They will be broad casting live from Memphis Tennessee and the Opening of the Big River Crossing. Via, Trains Magazine Web Page.

Click Here for Big Steam Streaming No. 844

SCHEDULE:

Saturday, Oct. 22: Coverage starts at 9:45 a.m in Memphis, Tenn.

Sunday, Oct. 23: Bonus coverage of Iowa Pacific's E units, schedule TBD.

Friday, Oct. 28:  Coverage starts at 9 a.m. in Kansas City, Mo.

Saturday, Oct. 29: Coverage starts at 9 a.m. in Lawrence, Kan., and includes stops in Marysville and Topeka.

Sunday, Oct. 30:  Coverage starts at 9:45 a.m. in Belvidere, Neb., and includes stops in Gibbon, Lexington, and North Platte.

Monday, Oct. 31: Coverage starts at 9:45 a.m. in Ogallala, Neb., and includes stops in Sidney, Neb., and Pine Bluffs and Cheyenne, Wyo.

* All schedule times and location are subject to change

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gJekaAW-fRI

Best YouTube video to date: at St. Louis, Missouri • Play time 6 Minutes, by Dan Robinson. / United States of America • Copyright Fair Use Act of 2016.

1 UP 844 Oct 20162 UP 844 Oct 20163 UP 844 October 2016

Safe travels, Gary - Railfan

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  • 2 UP 844 Oct 2016
  • 3 UP 844 October 2016
  • 4 UP 844 October 2016
Last edited by trainroomgary
Gregg posted:

4 Day 8 UP 844

I agree with one of the other posters... The bunk car (if that's what it is) looks terrible.  I'm sure UP could have come up with an old observation or something similar to what CP uses on their Christmas train. If it 's a engineman's bunk car why isn' t next to the engine.   I'm sure both the head end and tail-end crew probably stay over night  in Motels.  Making a reverse move with this thing on the tail end is certainly possible but a old coach with a platform steps & back up hose   is much  easier and looks better with original marker lights.   (yep! UP should have consulted me as well)

 

 

This could be a one off, because this is the first time 844 has been a long trip after the rebuild.  However, not having a "fancy" car at the end of train is telling.  No  railroad officials?  No place to entertain Government officials?  Is UP changing its policies for the Steam Program?   Again, noticing the consists of long trips in the future will be very telling.

Last edited by Dominic Mazoch

Day 11 thru 18 • October 23 - 31st., 2016 

The Living Legend. Live Web Cam Schedule.

“Trains Magazine”, Live Web Cam, will start again on Friday Oct 28: Coverage starts a 9AM in Kansas City, MO                                      SCHEDULE:

Saturday, Oct. 22: Coverage starts at 9:45 a.m in Memphis, Tenn.

Sunday, Oct. 23: Bonus coverage of Iowa Pacific's E units, schedule TBD.

Friday, Oct. 28:  Coverage starts at 9 a.m. in Kansas City, Mo.

Saturday, Oct. 29: Coverage starts at 9 a.m. in Lawrence, Kan., and includes stops in Marysville and Topeka.

Sunday, Oct. 30:  Coverage starts at 9:45 a.m. in Belvidere, Neb., and includes stops in Gibbon, Lexington, and North Platte.

Monday, Oct. 31: Coverage starts at 9:45 a.m. in Ogallala, Neb., and includes stops in Sidney, Neb., and Pine Bluffs and Cheyenne, Wyo.

* All schedule times and location are subject to change

Link to Live Web Cam - Click Here for Big Steam Streaming No. 844

Photos from Live Web Cam, Saturday October, 2016 / Memphis Tennessee / Big River Crossing.

1 844 in Yard Crowed of Railfans2 844 in Yard Memphis TN3 Fan with camera Memphis TN4 844 with Diesel Helper 5 Memphis Yard backing up

Safe travels • Gary - Railfan

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  • 4 844 with Diesel Helper
  • 5 Memphis Yard backing up
Last edited by trainroomgary

The story behind the last car in this train,

“Trek to Tennessee” The Bunk Car.

At a meet and greet for railfans, a railfan ask this question. October 22, 2016 at Memphis, Tennessee.  Ed Dickens (Senior Manager of Heritage Operations), and The Steam Shop Crew.

Question; Why is this train not using Union Pacific Passenger Cars and why is there a bunk car at the end of the train? 

Answer:  Paraphrased; from a crew member.  “There's a few reason for the consist on this train, two of them are that there were already a couple very large officers specials on the system at the time, 15 - 20 cars are better. So that's most of the passenger car fleet right there. Another reason is that this was just an exhibition run to celebrate the opening of a connecting railroad bridge in Memphis, Tennessee. Ed and his wife stayed on the train, while the crew stayed in hotels for their overnight stops.”

Officer's specials are trains for the higher ups, and executives of the UP.  They often travel by rail in their own fleet of rebuilt passenger cars.  UP has a fleet of 40-50 cars and most were taken up by two different trains.  So there wasn't many cars available to put behind 844.  Both officer's trains were 15-20 cars in length

I find it cool that Ed Dickens and his wife, stayed on the train, using the bunk car, like a motor home on rails.

Gary - Railfan

No. 844's "Trek to Tennessee"

Schedule update! Locomotive No. 844 will have a slightly extended stay in Coffeyville, Kansas. It will now be leaving at 12:30 p.m. CT on Thursday, October 27, and arriving at 8:15 p.m. in Kansas City, Missouri. The locomotive will remain in Kansas City all day Friday.

Kansas City, MO  •  Union Station - 30 W. Pershing Rd.

Gary / Railfan

pennytrains posted:

Just out of curiosity, does the UP have functional dining cars on those executive specials?

Becky

Yes the do, and one is even a dome diner. Their chefs are all highly trained, and EVERYTHING is made from scratch. During political conventions, when they set up a large group of cars to wine & dine guests, they high famous name master chefs. I remember one trip, out in LA for one of the big political conventions, they hired Wolfgang Puck. He was still "on the job" the morning were preparing to leave with 3985, and one of the UP Waiters was asking is each at the breakfast table, what we wanted for breakfast. When he got to me, I asked for scrambled eggs, but not runny, with crisp bacon. Within minutes I felt a tap on my shoulder, and upon turning around, this man dressed in a full chefs uniform, motioned me into he galley. In a thick German accent, he tells me, "I will show you EXACTLY how to make scrambled eggs the way YOU like them, how many do you want?" He then proceeded to separate the whites from the yokes, whipped up the whites, then blended the yokes into the whipped whites, and poured the whole mixture into the frying pan with lots of pepper and a bit of salt. When I came back to the table with my plate full of scrambled eggs a crisp bacon, the rest of the Steam Crew was laughing like crazy. I had just been trained by Wolfgang Puck HIMSELF!!!!!

Recently saw a UP sponsored u-tube update regarding the Big Boy restoration. Up til now I've been somewhat skeptical as to whether or not UP was up to the task of restoring a complex steam locomotive. There have been so many negative comments made recently on this forum regarding whether or not the UP would actually going ahead with the restoration based on their steam crew's experience and significant restoration costs. However, after viewing the most recent video release from UP I'm beginning to think they're in fact quite serious about restoring the Big Boy to full steam operation. Needless to say I know absolutely nothing about how long it might take for the restoration and eventual operation of such a highly complex piece of machinery. Obviously it may very well take several years to complete the restoration work but I'm now beginning to think it might actually happen sooner rather than later.

I certainly hope so and maybe, just maybe, in my lifetime!

Hot Water posted:
pennytrains posted:

Just out of curiosity, does the UP have functional dining cars on those executive specials?

Becky

Yes the do, and one is even a dome diner. Their chefs are all highly trained, and EVERYTHING is made from scratch. During political conventions, when they set up a large group of cars to wine & dine guests, they high famous name master chefs. I remember one trip, out in LA for one of the big political conventions, they hired Wolfgang Puck. He was still "on the job" the morning were preparing to leave with 3985, and one of the UP Waiters was asking is each at the breakfast table, what we wanted for breakfast. When he got to me, I asked for scrambled eggs, but not runny, with crisp bacon. Within minutes I felt a tap on my shoulder, and upon turning around, this man dressed in a full chefs uniform, motioned me into he galley. In a thick German accent, he tells me, "I will show you EXACTLY how to make scrambled eggs the way YOU like them, how many do you want?" He then proceeded to separate the whites from the yokes, whipped up the whites, then blended the yokes into the whipped whites, and poured the whole mixture into the frying pan with lots of pepper and a bit of salt. When I came back to the table with my plate full of scrambled eggs a crisp bacon, the rest of the Steam Crew was laughing like crazy. I had just been trained by Wolfgang Puck HIMSELF!!!!!

Too funny.  Better question, could you duplicate the results at home?  Curious minds would like to know!

kgdjpubs posted:
Hot Water posted:
pennytrains posted:

Just out of curiosity, does the UP have functional dining cars on those executive specials?

Becky

Yes the do, and one is even a dome diner. Their chefs are all highly trained, and EVERYTHING is made from scratch. During political conventions, when they set up a large group of cars to wine & dine guests, they high famous name master chefs. I remember one trip, out in LA for one of the big political conventions, they hired Wolfgang Puck. He was still "on the job" the morning were preparing to leave with 3985, and one of the UP Waiters was asking is each at the breakfast table, what we wanted for breakfast. When he got to me, I asked for scrambled eggs, but not runny, with crisp bacon. Within minutes I felt a tap on my shoulder, and upon turning around, this man dressed in a full chefs uniform, motioned me into he galley. In a thick German accent, he tells me, "I will show you EXACTLY how to make scrambled eggs the way YOU like them, how many do you want?" He then proceeded to separate the whites from the yokes, whipped up the whites, then blended the yokes into the whipped whites, and poured the whole mixture into the frying pan with lots of pepper and a bit of salt. When I came back to the table with my plate full of scrambled eggs a crisp bacon, the rest of the Steam Crew was laughing like crazy. I had just been trained by Wolfgang Puck HIMSELF!!!!!

Too funny.  Better question, could you duplicate the results at home?  Curious minds would like to know!

Yes I/we have.

Hot Water posted:
pennytrains posted:

Just out of curiosity, does the UP have functional dining cars on those executive specials?

Becky

Yes the do, and one is even a dome diner. Their chefs are all highly trained, and EVERYTHING is made from scratch. During political conventions, when they set up a large group of cars to wine & dine guests, they high famous name master chefs. I remember one trip, out in LA for one of the big political conventions, they hired Wolfgang Puck. He was still "on the job" the morning were preparing to leave with 3985, and one of the UP Waiters was asking is each at the breakfast table, what we wanted for breakfast. When he got to me, I asked for scrambled eggs, but not runny, with crisp bacon. Within minutes I felt a tap on my shoulder, and upon turning around, this man dressed in a full chefs uniform, motioned me into he galley. In a thick German accent, he tells me, "I will show you EXACTLY how to make scrambled eggs the way YOU like them, how many do you want?" He then proceeded to separate the whites from the yokes, whipped up the whites, then blended the yokes into the whipped whites, and poured the whole mixture into the frying pan with lots of pepper and a bit of salt. When I came back to the table with my plate full of scrambled eggs a crisp bacon, the rest of the Steam Crew was laughing like crazy. I had just been trained by Wolfgang Puck HIMSELF!!!!!

As always Great Story "Hot Water"..........That one won't be topped for sure.............

If and when the #4014 is finished and under steam, will it be able to run on the now, Union Pacific System that it wasn't able to back in the day?

I remember having a side conversation with Steve Lee at the CSX Huntington Engine Facility, when the 3985 did the honors on the CSX Santa Claus Special. He was telling me how the Big Boy was made for work on only one portion of their circuit, and the 3985 could go all over the circuit, even places where the 844 could go. He said that the limiting factor on the 3985 was most in part to it's tender?????.......I didn't ask, but assumed it maybe due to Multi fixed axles, and did n't notice that until our group left theirs and headed for home....................................................Just Askin 

Last edited by Brandy

The Big Boy - 4014 - The Science of Metallurgy 

Ed Dickens, Senior Manager of the Heritage Operations, talks to railfans.  In the photos below Ed, shows how the steam team is inspecting the boiler inside and out.  They are using an ultrasonic tester to collect data.  The science of metallurgy along with this data, will be used to set the objectives for rebuilding the boiler and firebox. When the steam team returns to Cheyenne Wyoming, the rebuilding process will continue on the 4014.

1 Oct 2016 Ed Dickens 4014 Boiler Cleaning Process2 Oct 2016 Ultra Sonic Test

Gary / Railfan, Safe travels home.

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  • 1 Oct 2016 Ed Dickens 4014 Boiler Cleaning Process
  • 2 Oct 2016 Ultra Sonic Test
Last edited by trainroomgary

The probe on the ultrasonic unit pictured is only the type used to detect thickness of the steel.  Does anyone know if other UT methods are used?  I would think that for items under pressure they would be looking for inclusions and other anomalies in the steel as well.  Also does anyone know the typical chemistry and grade of steel used in this application?

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