Join the discussion on the following article:
UP 844 sidelined in Texas, E9s substituting
UP is a class act. What other railroad could back up one of the most handsome steam engines in the country with the most handsome passenger diesels? I wish them well.
How are they able to “build” flat spots on Locolotive wheels ?
How is the crew able to fix that in the field ?
Isn’t the only way to get flat spots on the wheels is to lock-up the brakes and making the wheels slide?
Where’s 3985?
Idont know if it is back together, but the SSW 819 could step in. I know the UP doesnt allow that, its just a thought. Good luck to the UP Steam crew.
Do a YouTube search for “Union Pacific 844 Flat Spots” for video of the UP crew trying to fix the 844 after the UP 1982 wouldn’t stop pushing on a brake application. There is also video of testing after quote “hours and hours of grinding” sounds like a lot more work to repair.
Flat spots on the driving wheel tires is caused, generally, by spinning the drivers on the rail by over-accelerating the throttle (slipping the drivers.)
Let’s hope the new engineer(s) know better. Repairs would require re-tiring the wheels in a locomotive shop.
3985 is in the middle of a major rebuild, I believe.
There are two theories about the flat spots presented by the comments. One blames the engineer for spinning the wheels by accelerating too fast. This should prematurely wear the tires on the drivers and the rails, but I fail to see how it could cause flat spots.
The second theory indicates the diesel continued to push when there was a braking application. This would create flat spots due to sliding.
Regardless of the cause, I hope the Georgetown RR shops can get the 844 repaired and on the tracks in short order.
Edmond: I stand corrected about spinning. I would believe you were correct with wheels stopped, but the train continues to move due to shoving. I have read that spinning can contribute to the problem as well. I was not aware that a diesel was in the consist.
It is amazing that with all the trips 844 has taken with diesels in the consist this hasn’t happened before.
On You Tube it was so great to hear that wondrous whistle. Takes me back to the 1960s when (then) 8444 was in this neck of the woods and I fell in love with that whistle!
I hope they won’t have to disassemble the running gear to replace the tires with the flat spots.
Here’s to U.P. and its crews! PROPS!
George Brown
This ‘incident’ must raise the issue of declining crew experience surely. There’s certainly a problem here in the UK when really hard duty is required (as distinct from toddling up & down a few miles of familiar preserved line with a few coaches in tow). A few years ago an express loco slipped out of control on Durham viaduct (East Coast Main Line) when the driver failed to get the throttle closed fast enough. The valve gear was completely wrecked, the disabled loco blocking this important route for some time (and requiring an expensive rebuild).
Things like this could kill the UP steam program. That steam team did a bang-up job for a very long time without embarrassing themselves or the railroad. Maybe this is “just one of those things that happen” or maybe it isn’t. But with the bucks UP spends on the program, they want it to meet its commitments and be out there and visible. I’d hate to see this steam program meet the same fate as NS’s program did in the 90’s, there one day and gone the next.
About 3985, as of May last year she was having work done on the superheater, but an aggressive schedule for 844 has kept the steam crew busy away from Cheyenne. The annual UP Steam Shop open house is in three weeks, I hope to get an update.