Big Boy

In the past I've commented about Big Boy on Facebook and most likely somewhere along the line in this blog. When I did I was talking about this Big Boy.

Making the usual jokes about making Big Boy my personal bitch. Today's blog is not about that Big Boy it is about this one.

The American Locomotive Company in Schenectady, New York built 25 of these monsterous locomotives for the Union Pacific Railroad between 1941 and 1944. They were the largest steam locomotives to work the mountains of the American West and most likely by almost any standard the largest in the world. How big are they? The Big Boys are 132 feet long including the tender which carried coal and water. Fully loaded they weigh 1.2 million pounds. They are 2 engines under one boiler. They have two sets of eight drive wheels which are powered by cylinders nearly two feet across. They are so large the two sets of drive wheels must pivot separately for the Big Boy to go around a curve. They were engineered to travel up to 80 miles per hour. The railroad never ran them that fast but the intent was to balance the locomotives so that at any speed the forces generated would not tear them apart. The Big Boys are classified as a 4-8-8-4 locomotive. It means they have a 4 wheel leading truck, two sets of 8 driving wheels and a 4 wheel trailing truck.

Why write about the Big Boy now?

Seventeen of the Big Boys were scrapped when they were taken out of service. The remaining eight survived and are on static display across the country. Union Pacific has reached an agreement to trade some other equipment to RailGiants Train Museum at the Los Angeles County Fairgounds for Big Boy 4014. That Big Boy was chosen because it has spent the last 50 years in the friendly climate of Southern California. It has been moved to a Union Pacific shop in Colton, California and a crew is preparing to tow it to Cheyenne, Wyoming where it is scheduled to arrive on May 8, 2014. Union Pacific maintains two other steam locomotives there and is going to restore Big Boy 4014 to working order. The intent is to have the work completed by 2019 for the 150th anniversary of the driving of the golden spike at the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in Utah. At this time they cannot predict where the locomotive will travel because of the Big Boys weight and size they have to be sure bridges and tunnels can accomodate it.

I am quick to jump on my soap box and raise hell when companies ignore their workers, pay inadequate wages or just in general fail to do the right thing. Union Pacific could have easily just left things alone and allowed Big Boys to fade from our memories. They would be a curious giant relic of our past. History means more when you can see it come alive. It will be an amazing sight when the Big Boy fires up its boiler, produces steam and moves under its own power. It is a huge thumbs up from me to Union Pacific. My hope is to someday see this giant in person and in action.