Great I am truly astounded by the sound and pictures; Great job. [bow]
This is the Challenger #3985 coming thru south Little Rock racing at near top speed.
Sorry there is no sound as this was taken on a pocket camera and poor trackside planning.
http://video.freevideoblog.com/Player.aspx?fileid=F0DD4C5D-7B37-4135-AE82-517C7DF7F17E
It is ready now, enjoy. I am uploading another at Pine Bluff which really shows the engine in good detail without sound.
Here is the link to the Pine Bluff Visit. It may be a few minutes before that one is ready.
http://video.freevideoblog.com/Player.aspx?fileid=E7894897-D115-44FD-862A-2E03D50E1278
I’m not a rivet counter but in your first sentence you state “It appears the Challenger couldn’t do this afternoons return to Denver so DDA40X #6936 was added.”
Do I hear an OOPS??[B)][:o)]
I understand that the UP doesn’t want an enine failure on the main, but THREE SD40-2’s? Maybe they were deadheading or something. It sure will be interesting to learn what happened to 3985.
By the way, when was the last time that an excursion broke down on the road (either with or without backup)?
Sincerely,
Daniel Parks
That really was a fine peice of video work,short as it was but sounded just great and looked great too. Also, fan like me was not able to see the train. Well, UP had a website and on it they provided a means of tracking the train from Denver to Cheyenne and back. On one of the cars there was a GPS unit that was probably connected to UP Main Office in Omaha that set up a map where you could track it on your computer from the time it left Denver’s Union Station to final destination in Cheyenne. I was not able to track it entirely but come back to it later that Saturday found out when it came back to Denver about 9:19 PM. Now, I have a question for someone, did they have a separate crew operating the three helper diesels or was it controlled romotely in the cab of 844 locomotives or the Challenger locomotive?
Nope. No oops. The Challenger (#3985) was supposed to doublehead with #844, but didn’t (due to it’s breakdown) so #6936 was added. That is what I was referring to in my original statement.
Thanks all for the video compliments.
I’m sure they had a crew and it was not operated remotely. When it left Cheyenne on Saturday evening with #6936 (DDA40X), I could hear Steve Lee telling the crew in #6936 to go to knotch 2, etc.
My mistake, thank you for setting me straight. And of course a very nice video, especially since it was shot with one hand on the wheel and the other on the camera which was also the reason all the traffic stayed behind you.
On a miserable “summer’s” day in the UK, this has really lifted my spirits. I shall play it all day just to hear the whistle until my work mates kill me.
TonyCumminsUK
Sweet video! I have a question to ask: just past the bridge did 844’s drivers slip for a moment or was that something else?
Sterling1 Those drivers sure did slip for the moment.
Sometimes in the days of steam there is alot of slipping going on. Hopefully a shot of sand took care of that slipping.
Is it just me, or did somebody edit out my comments about the bikini contest that I had included with my original post on this subject (see additional post about what kind of website the movie was on). My original post looks a little different. Oh well, who cares.
CC
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaawesom video.
the stacatto of the exhaust & the howl of the whistle.ohy oh oh more power.
U. P. BABY,LONG LIVE U.P. STEAM.
was the challenger 3985 on the morning run? the family & i were lucky enough to ride
the frontier days train behind her last year. we probably saw you and the rest of the
parade chasing her last year. any word what broke on the locomotive?
was the plan for the 844 to take the train north and the 3985 back south to denver?
Yeah, I heard that too.
Great videos guys!
That was really cool but my computer would lock up about 15 seconds into it.
They should have been sent to the SCRAPER along time ago. Their very ugly and they sound like total crap.
Man that’s pretty darn low[:(!].
Allan.
Tremendous. I could feel the power all the way to my toes!!! Thanks for posting it.
You are standing against what brought this nation into being coast to coast.
Long live steam whereever it may go.