Is it correct on the other side?
From the photos/footage I’ve seen, it’s “backwards” on both sides, i.e. both flags are “blowing” towards the front of the train). If it was just an “ordinary” excursion train outing, it wouldn’t be such a big deal, but surely somebody had to think about that before putting together that historic consist. I enjoy watching the trackside videos, but that’s been bugging the crap out of me since day 1 [banghead]
We looked into it. Tickets to ride on the return trip from Ogden to Evanston, Wy, were $3K a pop… [:O]
(There are still some left if anyone’s interested…)
$3,000! Wow, that’s quite a price. Bet it’s worth it though, it’s not often you get to ride behind the worlds largest steam engine!
For that money you should get to ride in the cab. [(-D]
It’s a 77 mile drive, about an hour. Track seems to mostly follow the highway. So we’re talking what, a 3 hour train ride?
-Randy
So, with some quick mental calculations that’s about $1000 an hour. Umm, that’s seeming more and more steep by the minueut. I would rather get to run the smaller 4-6-0 at Nevada Northern railway!
Can you stick your head out the window?
When I read the thread title, It reminds me of my youth in 1950s Chicago…
We saw the beast yesterday and he’s an impressive site to behold.
The best part of the day? My son getting a set of Engineer’s orders from a very nice UP employee who had an extra set.
I told him, he from now on, he had to work up orders for all of his runs on the layout. He just gave me a look. lol.
I would too! That’s too much work, I just run trains. Train orders? switch list? work orders? track warrents? WAAAAYYYYY too much work. [(-D]
Mike.
I’m in your club, Mike. Chuck all of that stuff. Love to build 'em, love to run 'em. But I retired from 40 years of paperwork, mostly as an accountant. Don’t even do my own taxes anymore. No more extra paperwork for me. Smacks of labor, not fun.
John
I love the horn sound haven’t anything that for like forever. Plus the neat caboose.
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That sounds like quite a thrill.
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I hope you get them laminated for safekeeping.
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-Kevin
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The cost to rebuild and operate 4014 is “chump change” in the grand scheme of things for the UP. The revenue geneated by the good will and PR of this whole project will far exceed its costs to the UP. As to the rod bearing noise, when working with this type of bearing, a little loose is better than a little tight. As if it was tight, it would only get tighter at track speed when bearing temps increase. As to the sound like its coasting, thats because towing two tool cars and the back up diesel is “chump change” to the Big Boy’s power. Tack on a hundred or so PFE Reefers with friction bearing trucks like she used to move over the mountain, and she will bark. It was amazing to see such a great machine moving under steam again. My hat is off to the UP and their steam team for bringing 4014 back to life including the successful conversion to oil firing. Now to get her tender converted and back with her so that 3985 can come back to life and join 4014 on the road in another year or two. Just wait till UP puts the 4014 on the head end of a hot stack train like they would do with 3985. That will be a sight to behold! Mike the Aspie
They left Utah yesterday on their way back to Cheyenne.
A few videos from the event.
The coolest thing about events like this is the people you meet. Yesterday we met a 95 year old gentlemen who was a retired engineer for the UP. To the best of the family’s knowledge, he’s one of, if not the oldest living steam engineer for them. They had a photo of him driving the 4014 back in 1957. He’s driven many of UP’s steam locomotives including 844.
My son has a vest with a collection of hat/lapel pins that he has collected to remind his/us of all the things we seen and places we’ve visited. The other day in Ogden, he bought a 4014 shield pin to add to his collection. For yesterday’s event he took a few of his pins off his vest and put them on his shirt.
When we met Mr. Transtrum, he saw the 4014 pin on our little guys shirt, he perked up and asked where we found it. When we told him, he said "I wish I had one of those, to go with the others on his hat. In a proud parent moment, our little guy told him he could have his.
It was great listening to his stories. It’s living history. This is exactly the reason why many of us here are attracted to this hobby. It’s preserving history in our own little way.
Derailed in Rawlings a few days ago.
https://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2019/05/16-big-boy-stubs-its-toe-with-derailment
Howdy …
Here is a sequence of pictures I took west on Morgan, UT on May 12. … Notice the traffic backed up on the Interstate highway because of the special train with 4014.
