UP Steam Shop Video

The shop is  looking great. They are really taking care of business up there. Once they get the 4014 running it will be the Steam Shops crowning achievement

 

I must say, the shop appears to be a lot nicer without that horrid drop ceiling.

If they were truly taking care of business they would have both 844 and 3985 operating. This is the first year in Union Pacific's 150+ year history that they do not have an operating steam engine. That in my opinion is not taking care of business.

I'm betting it's going to be very cold in there.

You have no idea what it was, like prior to that insulated ceiling installation.

From the Trains online interview with Ed Dickens

"Additionally, the shop will get new windows, a new heating system, and fall protection gear."

I would bet that with a new modern heating system, new windows and I would guess that a corporation as big as UP would also install new insulation, it might not be as cold as it used to be.

If they put the infrared heat in there, that place will be downright toasty. The steel will actually radiate the heat

Good grief...

Keep hearing rumors from several people seriously into steam preservation, very little of it good. I keep hearing that 3985 has a lot of flue issues from poor maintenance which is one reason why they took on 4014. I've also heard from people who worked around the steam team that it's not managed well. Very few people I know think 4014 will ever run (or won't run for very long, sort of mike that Pennsy K4 back in the 80s).

God know I hope they're all wrong, but like I said, I'm hearing this from people who are pretty well known in steam preservation...

 

Chris, literally every thread about the UP steam program that has been posted here, on trainorders.com and other sites, ends up being very critical of the current state of affairs in the UP steam program. And Hot Water is not the only person being critical.

 

I am reminded of the old saying, "Where there's smoke, there's fire."

 

Given the public record information available regarding lawsuits against the fella running the program, the on-going employee turnover in the steam shop, the current state of the 844's boiler and other issues that have been made public, one cannot help but wonder if that old saying is applicable here.

I think I'll take a wait and see approach.  After all their not spending any of my money.

Rich

 

I do not have a dog in this fight, I just hope one day to see the 844 and the 4014 run again. This thread was simply started to talk about what we could be scene on the UP's latest video

Not sure if P51 meant to throw some chum in the water, or it was an  innocent comment. What was known is that once he did, folks like HW and others would be right there to rehash the same old "I heard" stories. I still remember those who "Heard" the engine would never leave Pomona because no one would agree to it. .  Heck the UP could post that they are choosing the new black paint for the engine and their are those who would deride it as the wrong black and blame it on Ed just to be jerks

As you often have said, and Marty quoted, there are always 3 sides to a story, we hear one side here consistently, the other side, as far as I know isn't represented. Only results, lack of results or a court case my reveal the third side or the truth

Or , "If it looks like crap, and smells like crap, its probably crap".

If 3985 had not ben maintained like Ed Dickens says there would be pictures of the inside of the boiler on the internet..

I would tend to agree with that.  I'm just stunned at all that has happened out in Cheyenne.  From the mechanical issues, to the employee turnover and to the fact that there is no UP Steam operating this year.  Times have certainly changed.

OK I think I got it.  So you think that if UP Steam manager Ed Dickens feels that he has found a problem with work done on 3985 by past employees which he feels would violate FRA rules then the correct thing for him to do as manager is to post photos of the boiler problems in online forums and that would help to make him a better manager, would help to make the former employees feel better and would make the situation better. Did I get that right?

 

 

He would release them to make himself look better. If he could. He can't because there isn't anything wrong with it.

Didn't the FRA make a surprise visit at the shop a while back to look at the 844?  If they did and even remotely thought a problem existed with the 3985 wouldn't they have looked at her also?

Actually, no. Technically an FRA Inspector can ONLY ask to "inspect" a locomotive that is ready for service (same thing applies to diesel units). However, their "surprise visit" to the Cheyenne Steam Shop happened while the manager and his "4014 team" were out in California. Even though the 844 was NOT "presented for service", the FRA folks got a REAL eyeful of the disastrous condition inside the boiler of 844.  The FRA folks would have had no interest in 3985, which is stuffed way back in the last stall of the roundhouse, which is a different building from the Steam Shop anyway.

 

.Ok I will ask the dumb question. Even though they weren't there for 844. I would think if they saw 844 boiler. It would indicate a maintenance issue and would warrant a full inspection of the maintenance and safety programs to include immediate inspection of the all other engines regardless if it is sitting or not. Some how I don't think that UP management would be happy with that one especially if they wound up with fines or violations due to being looked at with a magnifying glass.  I base my opinion as I have had duties as an IG and Division Command Inspection Program inspector of Army Units  CBRN equipment/safety/HAZMAT/CBRN training programs.

I'm watching 1309, 611, and 4014.  Of the three, 4014 has the best financial backing and the most full time manpower.  Yet the others seem increasingly to be making better progress, and it seems both will be under steam far sooner.

 

 

611 will run next year.

Oh ok I understand.  I'll bet their eyes opened wide after seeing the 844...thanks for the explanation.

 

How many people on this forum are paying for the Union Pacific Steam Program out of their pocket?  It sounds like a bunch of former disgruntled employees are using this forum to trash talk their former employer.  Did the Union Pacific Steam program clean house and get rid of all the trouble makers that didn't like being told it's not Burger King and they don't get it their way.

Wow, thats a bit harsh, but it sounds like if "those who know what they're doing" when it comes to steam locomotives don't get their way. You have some of the equipment/program issues mentioned above.

 

Is it trash talking?.......or just telling it like it is.

 

Meanwhile, the folks rebuilding 611 are asking, "do you want fries with that?"

I have never gotten that the former employees are out to trash the UP steam program. Most of the guys who post about UP Steam who used to work there love the program. They came out of the wood work to defend themselves when Ed Dickens started bad mouthing them about the condition of 3985 as a reason for it being side lined. Ed Dickens brought their rath down on himself. All I can say is if the former crew is responsible for the damage cause to the boilers then show us some pictures of 3985's boiler!

Very good point since 3985 has NOT operated since the late fall of 2010. Thus all the damage has been done to 844.

My bet is 3985 hasn't even been inspected. It was the FRA inspection early this year that led 844 to being shut down. They red tagged it! Ed Dickens was saying 844 would be operational this year! He didnt even know how bad the boiler was!

If things are so bad at the UP Steam shop(and a defer to the experts in this matter) How come Dear Leader(as someone always calls him) still has a job as head of the steam program.  Either he's the biggest BS artist out there covering his collective butt or UP doesn't really care.

Unfortunatly: Yes, and yes.

Another thing, if 844's boiler damage was caused by the former team why the heck did it take the FRA red tagging it 3+ years and thousands of miles later? The boiler should be inspected every single year. There are tools inexpensive fiber optic cameras that can see deep inside. No mater how you slice it Ed Dickens reeks of incompetence!

That's cool but how do you know this is true? Did you hear it from Ed himself or a current employee or did you read it somewhere like Trains magazine?

Simple logic! If you have in you're possession evidence that exonerates you do you not use it? Ed Dickens is being vilified in the steam world and by now I'm sure he is aware of that.

If things are so bad at the UP Steam shop(and a defer to the experts in this matter) How come Dear Leader(as someone always calls him) still has a job as head of the steam program.  Either he's the biggest BS artist out there covering his collective butt or UP doesn't really care.

 

I've seen the retirement of a few key operations and maintenance people lead to similar problems in another business.  It wasn't that the upper management didn't care, they just didn't know the O&M side of the business well enough to have an intuitive sense of priorities or an accurate BS detector when what they were told didn't match up with what was right in front of them.  It took several years, compliance action by an outside regulatory agency and another round of retirements and reassignments for operations and maintenance to get back on a solid footing.  Management now has a more accurately calibrated BS detector, or at least they listed to the people who do.  The UP may be going through similar process, which is too bad since there is a lot of avoidable pain and financial loss involved in that mode of learning.