Thanks, Jim! That was very nice of you folks at Kalmbach.

I think the better question is, does anyone think it can't?
As aswright pointed out earlier in this thread, who'd have thought NS would bring their steam program back or 765 would go 'round Horseshoe curve, if you'd asked a few years ago? I saw Doyle's PA-1 sitting in the building in Portland last weekend. Who'd have thought that would happen, if you'd asked more than a decade ago?
How many nay-sayers must there have been when the first rumors came out that UP was going to pull 3985 away from the depot in Cheyenne and restore her to operation? I'm sure there were plenty of people still saying, "It'll never happen" even as 3985 made her first steps under steam in that roundhouse! I know for sure there were fans who refused to believe that NS was restoring 1218 until they saw her in person.
Yeah, it's a stretch to think we'll ever see a 4000 under steam. I've long ago given up the dream of ever seeing one move under her own power. But one thing I've realized over the years is you can never second-guess the future.
I can't say stranger things than a UP 4000 under steam again have happened. But what a long strange trip it's been, people. If it can happen, then, it can happen!

Kinda makes me why how these things start up rumor or otherwise.
Coal and steam and efficiency and price of oil vs coal and why railroads made the diesel move.

In the NKP berk description model from Life LIke a former NKP engineer talks about how he ran some NKP trains, after the switch to Diesel he recalls moving a train with 3 3000hp diesels, but the largest train he ran was behind a NKP berk 138 cars.

He could barely get a set of diesels up to 50 mph on a similar run that a single berk ran easily at 60mph, and another engineer had 4 GP9's had to run them wide open to try to run 60mph while a single berk again could run the same train with ease.

There may be something to be said about steam. UP may want another active steamer while others are down for repairs (and today can take a lot longer than the 2 weeks the old shops could do)

Whether its a big boy or the 2-10-2, it does make sense from the rumor.
But I won't believe it til I see a Big Boy under steam, and even if true, it will take time and have to do a thorough restoration no matter what condition any big boy is in. Your not going to slap one out of storage, throw coal and water in it and go.

But you do have to recall UP had a purpose to need the Big Boy, and the Challengers could not do that.

Interesting rumor, now what.
I never could rule out the possibility of one back in action, I always felt they should keep one in steam ready condition just to help preserve it right, not necessarily run it.

Can the mods combine these threads? We don't need two ongoing discussions of the same topic

From the link above:I "smell" Ross Rowland and a blue GG1 on the Golden Spike Limited! The aroma is interestingly agreeable.

Well well...

Thanks Jim for the first hand reporting. I hope that this comes to pass (me that is, standing at trackside)!

Found on YouTube

I'm trying to applaud Ross on his previous venture with the Gold Spike back in 1969. I said it was interesting and agreeable. I think that the blue PennCentral GG1 that pulled a portion of that tour was just as improbable as a Big Boy pulling a portion of the 2019 edition. But, he did it back then. Now, I wonder what he'll use this time in the East?

The number in the number boards is the road engine number (4014). The lead engine is the helper (4021).

"I am right in my own mind."

Femur Erg

The absolute standard saying among those in the railroad industry that had occasion to pit steam against diesels (for example, Baldwin and Alco engineers):

"A steam locomotive of the right size will run the wheels off a train it can't possibly get started. A diesel-electric set can start a train it can't run."

Electrics combine the best of both worlds, and are only limited by how much "juice" the substations, wire, pans, motors, etc. can handle, at least short-term. The GG1 ostensibly has an output of 4,620 hp, and the E60CP/CH 6.000 hp, but short-term both could handle the equivalent of 10,000 hp for a minute or three to get a train moving.

I have to admit to still being skeptical, simply because there is so, so much that can still go wrong. . .but if this comes off, a plate of crow will taste mighty good! :-)

Thanks are still due to the UP though, both for keeping the engines running that they do have, and for not turning down steam--and their heritage--for what seem, at least to us, as unfounded fears of various sorts. . .

Trolley Ira has it right about the number boards. Union Pacific, like Southern Pacific and some other roads, used those lighted number boards as train indicators, doing this into the diesel age. A regularly scheduled train, such as a Daylight on the SP, would carry a timetable number, like 99. Extras would have the number of the road engine, with a letter X in front (for "eXtra"). In the case of a double-header like this one, the 4014 is the road engine, trailing the helper 4023. However, the train is moving as an extra with 4014 as the road engine, and so helper 4023 carries the train indication for Extra 4014.

Hmmmm, the Newswire post makes me wonder if Brother Rimmasch is upping the "cool" factor?

The problems that made the NS program go away, and that had to be surmounted to bring it back on former Conrail trackage, were logistical--insurance, traffic levels on a railroad with fewer rails than in the past, FRA standards, passenger equipment, etc.

The (ALLEGED) problem with running a Big Boy on the Union Pacific of 2014-and-later is mechanical engineering. The track that used to be able to handle 4-8-8-4's has been reprofiled, re-engineered, recalibrated, realigned, etc. to handle heavy diesels and stack-pack trains.

I have a hard-core Big Boy fanatic in my area. He's a mechanical and electrical engineer and a live-steamer. He's outlined to me the changes in curvature and superelevation that were made to Sherman Hill for the Big Boys, and tells me that the track isn't the same today.

Does anyone here remember how, when N&W 611 was first restored to operation, it was assigned a special speed limit of "track speed on tangents, 10 mph below any existing speed restrictions on curves"? That was because 611 had a higher center of gravity, some 10-18 inches higher than that of modern diesels, and the curves were no longer superelevated for J's and passenger traffic, but instead for drag freight traffic. And just because you can handle a six-wheel diesel truck over the track doesn't mean it can handle an eight-wheel rigid set of drivers with aplomb--let alone two in a row.

No one, not even UP on a good day, is going to rebuild curves, sidings, and wyes for an occasional use by a 4-8-8-4.

Having said this, the UP and/or some partners COULD get a chosen Big Boy running if for no other reason than "for the heck of it," and it could chug slowly and gingerly around some carefully-chosen trackage to show off the "mine's bigger than yours" syndrome. It would be wasted money, but money spent building the ever-bigger luxury yachts is also wasted, so who cares other than the stockholders or Big Boy custodians?

Having said that, I'd MUCH, MUCH rather see a repeat of this than any Big Boy: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhgHrDbN4EU

I would like to state for the record, "Never is a long time".
Still, I will write to a person at U.P. steam shops and see what the story is from his viewpoint.

The probability meter on this has moved off the peg, but it's a long way from blowing the pops. Since I imprinted on 4004 in Cheyenne at age 3, I really do want it to happen, but all the usual considerations of business plan and operational logistics still apply.

As a starting point for slightly less than completely uniformed speculation could I ask what exactly did UP do for their centennial celebration? At the time I was 9 and on the verge of a slide into HO modeling. I have a recollection of a picture of 8444 nose to nose with a DDa40X, but don't know where it was staged. I believe Golden Spike NHS was still using V&T engines in disguise.

For that matter, I don't know the end points for 759's operations on the Golden Spike Centennial Limited. Was that coordinated in any way with UP?

As for operations, let me just say that the Roadmasters better be demanding lots of wye rebuilding resources before they let a Big Boy loose. The bridge engineers might want to review the Cooper's ratings of any bridges outside of the Omaha - Ogden mainline, in case side trips are contemplated.

That foam you see is from the Founder's Breakfast Stout. No, really.

Andrew Adams

to restore a big boy would be quite a tribute to american railroading history, but it would be a rather foolish move. Has everyone forgotten that we're in a not-so-good economy?

Not to mention, if you're taking a big boy anywhere, you have to investigate bridges (considering nothing has seen anything like a big boy in 60 years). The curves of a stretch of line would be in pain trying to handle a big boy.

Again, do i think it's a good idea? in preserving history, absolutely! in operating sense, it's a very foolish mistake. They better keep that thing between cheyenne and laramie.