UP Steam Shop on 5/21/2017

John, thanks for the pictures and story on the UP Shops Visit..........This will be a great achievement, when they get the Big Boy fired up, and running again....!

You by chance, didn't happen to see Steve Lee, when you were at Wasatch Railroad Contractors did Ya.......?

Brandy, No I didn't see Steve.  I would love to meet him someday.

John

Thanks for posting.

I made it up to Cheyenne Saturday but the steam shop was closed due to the spring snow storm on Thursday and Friday.

Thanks for the fine pictures

Good report - thank you. There is a huge amount of interest in the Big Boy over here in England.

MIKE

Wow !!  Awesome amount of fine machinery. Thanks for the pics.  A few years ago I was touring the Strasberg shop and they had UP drivers there then for work.  Evidently their big wheel lathe and workmanship get the job done.

J Daddy posted:

"We first examined the Big Boy which has had its front engine removed"

NOT touching this one... but I am amazed that it went all the way to Strasburg ... they must do great work!

The front engine didn't go to Strasburg. All the driver wheel sets went to Strasburg for new tires & crankpins, machining and quartering. The Cheyenne shop no longer has machinery to perform such work. And yes, Strasburg does do GREAT WORK!!!!

Wow ... what happened to the Challenger?  Crime scene tape too... 

Challenger 3985 was taken out of service as soon as Steve Lee retired at the end of December, 2010. The current manager has stated a number of times, that 3985 will never run again, so long has he is in charge.

 

Has anything been done to protect the internals of the Challenger? My experience comes from aviation and anytime we have an aircraft which is planned to be down or has been down for a while, we preserve and coat with oil parts that are prone to corrosion. We also use desiccant to control moisture. It seems this would be a wise idea for any chance of future use for an idle piece of machinery!

Goshawk posted:

Has anything been done to protect the internals of the Challenger?

No, but the roundhouse is heated. All the superheater units have long since been removed and scrapped.

My experience comes from aviation and anytime we have an aircraft which is planned to be down or has been down for a while, we preserve and coat with oil parts that are prone to corrosion. We also use desiccant to control moisture. It seems this would be a wise idea for any chance of future use for an idle piece of machinery!

Probably not all that necessary in that part of Wyoming, since it is high elevation and quite low humidity, most of the time.

Thanks Hot Water. I did not think about geography. I am in Mississippi, where the humidity is just ridiculous. I am guessing a little surface rust is probably not as big a deal as it is on an airplane.

Hot Water posted:

J Daddy posted:

"We first examined the Big Boy which has had its front engine removed"

NOT touching this one... but I am amazed that it went all the way to Strasburg ... they must do great work!

The front engine didn't go to Strasburg. All the driver wheel sets went to Strasburg for new tires & crankpins, machining and quartering. The Cheyenne shop no longer has machinery to perform such work. And yes, Strasburg does do GREAT WORK!!!!

Wow ... what happened to the Challenger?  Crime scene tape too... 

Challenger 3985 was taken out of service as soon as Steve Lee retired at the end of December, 2010. The current manager has stated a number of times, that 3985 will never run again, so long has he is in charge.

 

 

I don't get it.  Does the manager hate the Challenger?  I could understand if the manager said: our budget doesn't allow for both Big Boy and Challenger at the same time, I'm prioritizing Big Boy because Challenger has been running somewhat recently...but saying that 3985 "will never run again" so long as he's in charge makes it sound like he's very angry with the engine.  What did the Challenger do to him?

Given what I've read about the 3985, is it possible to restore it to operating condition?

Clarence Siman posted:

Given what I've read about the 3985, is it possible to restore it to operating condition?

Since the current manager refused to have anything to do with 3985, once Steve Lee retired at the end of December, 2010, she has now expired on her FRA mandated 15 year boiler "time". Thus, 3985 would now need the FRA mandated 15 year boiler inspection and re-calculated FRA Form 4, plus all new superheater units (which the current manager removed and scrapped, some years ago).

Thank You, is it possible to replaced all the appliances that were taken off for whatever reasons. Are Superheater units available for this locomotive?.

Clarence Siman posted:

Thank You, is it possible to replaced all the appliances that were taken off for whatever reasons. Are Superheater units available for this locomotive?.

All it takes is money, and the desire on someone's, ANYONE'S, part to bring her back into active service.

Thank you, John for taking all the photos. Very interesting. Sounds like a really fun day!

I believe that there was to be a presentation by Ed Dickens on 4014 for members of UPHS, Friday evening. Was it canceled?

Jim

Jim, The Friday presentation happened but I wasn't there.  There is a thread about it on the Trainorders site. 

The Toy Man has put together a Cheyenne Depot Days UP Steam Shop open house video. 

ToyMan Television UP Steam Shop Tour