Has anyone produced a video (DVD) about the UP 9000 type loco? I am interested in obtaining such an item. I visited the Pentrex site but did not see anything specific to this topic.
I’m guessing you’ve already seen it but there is a small video/description of the 9000 on the MTH site. Very unique looking loco one I would like to get someday. Not to mention MTH does a great job.
Pentrex has very limited steam footage–and with the 4-12-2’s ending operation in 1956 (but really most ended in 1955 or before) it is likely that limited footage in service was shot and is available today. Much of the interest in UP steam came at or near the end–when only 4-8-4’s, 4-6-6-4’s, and 4-8-8-4’s were still running.
I searched and searched. A few brief clips of 4-12-2’s do appear on other dvd’s, but they are only seconds long–and sometimes the engine is not even moving.
The only good dvd that features a several minute segment of 4-12-2’s, including lots of color and some black and white is Greg Scholl Video Productions’ Union Pacific Steam Classics, Volume 1. Be advised–there is no live sound with these rare films–and they don’t cheapen them with dubbed in, incorrect sound as others often do. The music and narration are rather tastefully done.
Also, recordings of actual 4-12-2 sound are very rare. The one easily found and downloadable sound recording was made of an engine that was badly out of time, in need of servicing, and absolutely does not reflect the way they sounded (for more info. on that and why go to www.steamlocomotive.com and look up the 4-12-2’s.) Briefly, maintenance shortcuts in the last years of operation, including turning engines back out on the road after as little as one half hour of servicing resulted in excessive wear of some valve gear components–particularly those connected with the middle cylinder which were difficult to service–that made the engines run “out of time” relative to how they ran when properly setup and maintained.
As an aside, in my opinion, the absolute best dvd of any steam power anywhere is Greg Scholl Video Productions’ DM&IR Yellowstones,