UP Big Boy on the Move in Texas

No, John Rimmasch moved his Wasatch Railroad Contractors to Cheyenne, quite a number of years ago, in order to do "other contract work" for the UP. By "other" I mean, his company completely re-built both of the auxiliary water tenders, work on various Steam Crew support passenger cars, and out-buildings for parts & equipment storage. Wasatch Railroad Contractors no longer does any work for UP, as a result of "budget cuts" back in about 2009.

 

Wasatch Railroad Contractors currently has a thriving business manufacturing small steam locomotive boilers, as well as other contract/consultant work in the field of steam locomotives, both in Europe and the U.S.. 

John is a good guy. I worked for him at Heber Valley RR. After he left the place fell apart. They still have some Diesels but the Steam engines seldom move. 

just curious, who does the UP Steam Manager report to?

GOOD QUESTION!

I don't recall her name, but she is no dummy, and is quickly "coming up to speed".

Thank god.

 

Chris

Exactly! To let the worlds largest operating steam locomotive just sit in the corner because of an ego is insane! Last time I seen 3985 is when it was heading north up to Milwaukee from West Chicago..on a Saturday morning...and it wasn't all blinged out 

 

Like I said before the "ego" needs to have it's a*s kicked!

 

Hot Water, How much $$$ do you think it would take to get 3985 back in operation?   

And I thought UP vols. worked to get 3985 out of the station and back to steam!  Give those people some credit!

 

 

They did, but THAT was back in the late 1970s, plus they where all UP employees! Things are different today.

So called "ego"  has destroyed at least as much railroading in this country as it's helped to generate.  Head trip politics is FAAAR more corrosive than the $o called bottom line !

Update at 1:30 p.m. June 21: Officials with the Museum of the American Railroad announced today that crews are now scheduled to move the Union Pacific steam locomotive Big Boy No. 4018 on July 14.

 

The move was originally scheduled for June 16 but delayed because of a derailment of another train along the route to Frisco. In addition, a routine inspection of one of the bridges along the route revealed a need for repairs. The July 14 date allows time for those repairs to be made.

 

An exact time for the move that Sunday has not been set.

Now that it has been moved, I might have the opportunity to go up to Frisco to see the move.  As I am not familiar with the Dallas area, are there any recommendations for ideal observation spots along the track?

The Santa Fe F7 is in reality an ex-Canadian National locomotive, although they did an excellent job in replicating a Santa Fe locomotive.  49 was an open number in the Santa Fe F7 numbering sheme.

 

Rusty

 

 

Any more updates, yet?  In particular, times.

According to the last "update" on the museum's website, the 4018 move is still scheduled for Sunday, July 14. I doubt that they will post any times.

It has been moved tentatively to July 21st but with the 28th as an alternate.

According to the site, the big move is scheduled for tomorrow. Hopefully some of you local guys will shoot some video.

 

http://www.museumoftheamerican...oveRollingStock.aspx

 

Is there any way the specific updates can be relayed here for those of us that do not have Facebook accounts?

Just posted on RYPN, that the move of #4018 was canceled this morning! However, the Santa Fe painted "F" unit is going to her new resting place, Frisco, Texas, today.

I'm bummed about these delays.  Was looking to catch the move before I head out of the country with the wife for an extended vacation. 

 

You can also follow the updates from the Museum of the American Railroad Facebook page at:

 

https://www.facebook.com/HistoricTrains

I began my drive to Dallas this morning from south of Houston at 7am. I was in Corsicana about 40 miles south of Dallas when they announced that the move was canceled. I was not happy. Instead of turning around I completed the trip to Fair Park to at least see it sitting there. I caught the F unit train at two spots and met some other really nice rail fans. My second vantage point was picture perfect and where I'll go when the Big Boy moves. No other rail fans were there. I'm not telling where it is though!

Frustrating, but I can understand.  Getting something that old, that heavy, that big, to anywhere is a real challenge.  I'm just happy they are willing to put the effort into trying.

Actually, SOMEBODY didn't notify the UP railroad more than 24 hours in advance of the "special movement", thus the UP mechanical and track departments did make their advance inspections. Also, trying to wye that big thing where they were supposed to wye it, would have apparently conflicted with a number of Z trains and Amtrak trains.

 

So, you all will just have to wait for another day, I suppose.

I'll drive back up there when the Big Boy moves. Yesterday gave me the opportunity to learn where the line runs, how to get from point to point along it, and where some very nice picture locations are. I also did see the F unit in tow and still saw the Big Boy at Fair Park one last time so it was still a worthwhile trip.

My family and I drove up there yesterday.  We got lost looking for Fair Park, it was breathtaking to finally see a Big Boy in person!  We were totally unfamiliar with the area, but met some local rail fans that were very friendly and helpful.  My brother took the following pictures:

 

 

 

 

The F7, sitting nearby:

 

 

Some pictures of me standing next to the engine (didn't realize how goofy I looked in the first pic until now!):

 

 

 

Cab was open for viewing, too:

 

 

 

Coupling up and moving out:

 

 

 

We headed on over to Union Station after that.  No Big Boy, but we did watch some of the other trains:

 

 

 

Some of the local wildlife (my brother photographs everything, and as we're animal lovers, critters are high on his list):

 

 

If we thought squirrels were bad enough crossing the road, this one paused on every single rail as it crossed the right of way!

 

 

We left shortly after hearing about the cancellation of the move.  We did not stay to see the F7, although I did see it crawling through the museum trackage parallel to the Big Boy.  This ended up being the last train we saw before we left.  This would be one time that a caboose would have been useful!!!

 

 

Despite the cancellation, we enjoyed our time there.  It was still worth leaving the house at 3:00 AM !  Will attempt to make it back when they actually move it!

 

Aaron

Great photos....

 

Chris

Seeing it move at all brought a big wide smile to my face!  I am planning a trip to the new location in Frisco some time next spring hopefully.

 

Thanks for the pics and videos1