On July 10th, 2009, Steamtown's UP #4012 Big Boy finally got a new coat of paint, along with the crane and Illinois Central engine by the front gate.

Looks like everything but the UP number plate got a good coat of flat black.

She looks a lot better then she had been looking - anyone know when /(if) the smoke box and firebox will be painted back to it's graphite color? Wonder if the rods or wheels will get special treatment?

Here are two photos from August 15th, 2009:

UP #4012 Side profile

UP #4012 3/4 view

/Mitch

She looks S O much better now. Great job to those responsible up in Scranton!!!
Love the side view with Scranton in the background.
One quick question.
Is her running gear complete? Last time I was there (a good number of years ago) I could have sworn it wasn't...that she was missing a few rods here and there.

The black paint that is on the #4012 right now is just the primer. The gloss black top coat is yet to follow along with the silver/graphite color for the smokebox and firebox wrapper sheets. The lettering will be done when all of the major painting is done. This has all be done by a contractor that was hired by Steamtown.

The rods for the 4012 are on/in the tender.

The IC #790 is being painted by a different contractor than the 4012.

Personally, I hope they don't do the whitewall tires, silver cylinder head covers and the rest of the unprototypical things that painters do. I also hope they use a graphite color for the smokebox and firebox. A look at the Omaha engine should be in order.
If you're going to paint it, do it correctly!
That's just my opinion and it doesn't count for anything.

Hi Bruce! Things are good here. Looks like things are moving right along up there. Great year for you guys. How is #26 doing? How's my gal,565, doing?

Frisco, Mr Knight, the historian, usually makes sure things are done correctly. So I would bet 4012 will be painted back to her original paint job.

For static outdoor display don’t you normally want to remove the jacket and insulation? Or is there something under the boiler jacket to keep things from rotting out?

Typically there is NOTHING under a jacket to keep anything from rotting out. Come to think of it, 4012's jacket looks a little banged up.

Here's a good question, why was the firebox not jacketed?

Many railroads did not jacket the fire box areas of their locomotives as these areas usually have stay bolts with "tell tale holes" that go all the way through the stay bolt. In the case of Big Boy, the Challenger and the 800 class at UP, the only area of the boiler that was left exposed was the area where the stay bolt holes went all the through the stay bolt. The rest of the stay bolts were flexible type stay bolts. The tell tale hole ends near the ball of the flexible stay bolt. If the bolt breaks, the only direction the water and steam can go is in the fire box. The rigid stay bolts, those found in the side sheets of the fire box can actually spray steam and water out of either side....the fire box side or the out side of the fire box...the side you see.

Some roads covered the fire box with jacket. These include the AT&SF and some of the Canadian lines. These roads did this mostly for winter reasons in an effort to keep as much boiler heat around the boiler as possible.

Keep in mind also that the back head of the locomotive has rigid stay bolts with tell tale holes that go both directions or all the way through. Jackets in the cab are common as you do not want steam spraying on the crew if a stay bolt breaks.

You can see more Big Boy "information" on our web page....

http://www.wrrc.us

John E. Rimmasch
Wasatch Railroad Contractors