I MEAN NO OFFENCE. I hope you people were not making your judgements based on looks. I went to the library and looked at pictures of some of the picks. Not pretty. In fact, some of those boilers, one would expect to find in the basement of a local High School. I do not know how these picked locomotives ran, but when it comes to looks there can be no denial, they were ugly when compared to a Chicago Northwestern and Milwakee Road Stream Liners.
Now in hiding TIM A
pssst Tim whats the “BIG BOY?”
you still wnat more stars don’t you??
Willy, back in 1980 when the California State Railroad Museum had its dedication and grand opening, the 4449 came thundering thru my home town of Woodland Ca… It was the most impressive thing I have seen in my life. To watch those rods and wheels slam the rails and to feel the ground shake is something that will never be forgotten
Young Master Willy:
Santa Fe’s 4-4-6-2 & 2-6-6-2 prairie mallets (big, ugly & an experiment not tried again) and the wayward ex-N&W 2-8-8-2 Y3 pushers on Raton Pass of the 1940’s.
I vote for unique, out of place or unusual. Form follows function, strength before beauty. “Favorite” should not automatically include steamlining (although ATSF’s streamlined Blue Goose was unique)…
Tim: Got any extra space wherever you banished yourself to? Or is it a streamlining thing?
No offence taken. I just don’t like fully streamlined steam. You can come out of hiding, enjoy your CNW and MILW locos. The thread – “favorite”?
[quote]
Originally posted by kevinstheRRman
pssst Tim whats the “BIG BOY?”
you still wnat more stars don’t you??
[;)] kev
the “BIG BOY” is a steam locomotive built for Union Pacific.It has a 4-8-8-4 wheel arrrangement. There were 25 built by american locomotive works.They were assigned to the mountain ranges in Wyoming.hope this helps.
stay safe[8D]
joe
Marty:
I know what you mean! [:D] A few years ago one of the challengers ( the number slips my mind) went through Omaha Nebrska and surrounding areas. Seeing the engine coming, whistle blowing and bell clanging, and then seeing it thunder by is something that I will never forget either. [:)]
Willy
Ladies and Gentlemen thank you for being so understanding. Willy and Marty, I too, had the opportunity to see a Challenger go by. What impressed me the most, there was very little smoke coming out of the smoke stack and very little steam escaping from any of the valves. They say a engine that produces very little smoke, means it is very efficent.
TIM A
Southern Rlwy 4501. She’s been a survivor. I first saw her when I was too young (1 or 2 yrs old) to remember. I’ve been behind the NW611 (a class act), NW1218, CP2839, the big T&P 610, NP765 and L&N 152. The 4501 has the grace and a history fit of “favorite” steamer.[:)]
Hi Tim,[:)]
The UP Challenger is truly something to see. No one who has a chance to see it should pass it by.
If you would have seen the fireman sand the flues on that challenger you wouldn’t likely forget that. There’s so much smoke and soot when they do that they were forbidden to do it in the city limits.
The fireman has the responsibility to produce all the steam needed in the most efficient way. Whether coal or oil the stack should show light gray. The challenger is oil fired. When the engineer throttles back there can be much smoke, as the fireman has to react to the lessor demand by cutting back the oil feed.
If there is wheel slip The sudden increase in draft can blow the fire out and than there is raw oil spray into the firebox that results in a lot of smoke.
Coal will smoke when more is added as will oil but oil is controlled easier.
So any engine can be efficient or nasty.
The most efficient burners actually were the wood fired ones.
Sooblue
Tim - for looks - the 611 is hard to beat (in my book) - but on tape and in person - the Big Boy is still my # 1 guy!
Mookie
I always liked IC’s Mountain type 4-8-2’s. As a kid, I used to see them running through my home town of Rockford IL during the 1950s. My Dad took pictures of the Mountains back then, and these pix now appear in my book, Two Track Main.
John Baie, author, xlibris.com/TwoTrackMain.html
No-one has mentioned this one yet, perhaps because it probably killed the Pennsylvania Railroad, but the T-1 gets my vote. A 4-4-4-4 duplex nonarticulated four-cylinder poppet-valve locomotive, it was perhaps the most complex steam loco ever built. On the “Fast Mail” between Chicago and Crestline OH, it was regularly timed faster than “Mallard” ever went. The Pennsylvania Railroad once fired an engineer because he not only missed the Fort Wayne stop but blared through the station at what the RR claimed was 140 miles per hour.
I like the N&W #1218 A.K.A. the big A. I think they could could run with the best of them. Just ask Marshall Basham of Williamson W.V. BRB
My favorites are GTW northerns, The Allegheny H-8 was a very successful and good looking locomotive. On a tangent I Photographed and rode behind the Union Pacific Challenger #3967. (Greely sub) She was magnificent. The smoke lifters lifters give her a different look from her near twin #3985. It is very impressive to hear a UP challenger on mountain grades. I also photographed the Up #3985 pulling 16 cars unassisted up Sherman hill. When she starts out or is working on grade it is a wonderful sight. The sound of pure steam power is overwelming. I wish I had ear plugs in. The Challenger is my second favorite operating, and my third favorite of all time.
David
C&O 614, I rode behind her in New Jersey on the return trip to Hoboken from Port Jervis & we did 85 mph with 26 passenger cars in tow. All during a Noreaster.
mine would have to be the big boy the most favorite articulated in general an milwaukee road 261 big boy
For me, bigger means better, so I really like the UP 4-8-8-4 Big Boy models, followed by the rakish Raymond Lowey inspired models on NYC and Pennsy. Oh, by the way, in the modern post-steam era I am a fan of the bigger horsepower units such as the UP Centenial 6900 series double engined units, gas turbines, SD90, etc. (interesting that almost all of my favorites have been pioneered by UP motive power people, hey!)
For me, the Canadian Pacific SELKIRK on display in Calgary. For running locos, the CPR Restored Hudson pulling older passenger coaches across Canada.
For some reason I’ve fixated on the S-2 Berk - superpower steam and a racehorse. Of course, the GS-4 Daylight is nothing to ignore. The early 4-4-0’s with their polished brass, antlers, etc, are a wonder to behold. Some of the streamliners had their high points (and some pretty low), but it’s hard to beat a plain, simple steamer like the Berk.