heppnerguy Posted October 17, 2019 Report Posted October 17, 2019 We had the honor of this restored train to come to Casa Grande, Arizona, yesterday. We parked along the tracks and waited 3 hours passed the expected arrival time for it to get here. I took a video of it and this is a frame from the video. the video was too long to transfer it to my computer so I am hoping to figure out how to shorten the video so I can post it, with all the sounds and movement on it. This is the largest engine that Union Pacific ever had and it too two years to restore for this occasion, marking the 150 year of their company, Take note on the number of drive wheels it has. I was astounded when I saw it. I remember when the steam engines were the only train engines out there and I really missed the huffing and puffing sound they made when they were replaced with the diesel locomotives. This will probably be the last time I will ever see one of these old trains driving down the rails and I did not want to miss that. I say out on my patio this morning and listened to it leave Casa Grande for it's next stop in Tucson. Wouldn't this make a great pattern to cut and hang? Dick heppnerguy Scrolling Steve, RabidAlien, Scrappile and 2 others 3 2 Quote
Scrolling Steve Posted October 17, 2019 Report Posted October 17, 2019 Thanks for sharing...That is quite a train ! heppnerguy 1 Quote
heppnerguy Posted October 17, 2019 Author Report Posted October 17, 2019 Just now, Scrolling Steve said: Thanks for sharing...That is quite a train ! it is truly amazing. I hope to be able to shorten and post a shortened video of it. It excited me Dick heppnerguy Quote
Karl S Posted October 17, 2019 Report Posted October 17, 2019 Beautiful to behold, I miss them a lot. Thanks for the memories. heppnerguy 1 Quote
Scrappile Posted October 17, 2019 Report Posted October 17, 2019 Oh, ya, I remember them. You are so right, the huffing and puffing, the releasing of steam... it all was very neat sounds and sites for sure. heppnerguy 1 Quote
jerry1939 Posted October 18, 2019 Report Posted October 18, 2019 I love the sound of a steam tractor on a sawmill. Between cuts, they run quiet, followed by a beautiful "bark - bark - bark". You can find lots of YouTube videos of trains & steam snow blowers. jerry heppnerguy 1 Quote
Rockytime Posted October 18, 2019 Report Posted October 18, 2019 The Big Boy was rebuilt in Cheyenne, Wyoming. An amazing undertaking to rebuild that behemoth. I'm only 100 miles away from the UP shops but unfortunately I no longer had the health or strength to visit the shops. Used to chase trains for years. I love them. heppnerguy 1 Quote
Scrappile Posted October 18, 2019 Report Posted October 18, 2019 Here you go Dick, just a little weekend project: https://www.lumberjocks.com/projects/61013 Quote
LarryEA Posted October 18, 2019 Report Posted October 18, 2019 (edited) Beautiful engine! I believe this is a 4-8-8-4 Big Boy A 4-8-8-4 in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is a locomotive with a four-wheel leading truck, two sets of eight driving wheels, and a four-wheel trailing truck. Do a search on "4-8-8-4 Train Engine" to see the horse power and weight Edited October 18, 2019 by LarryEA heppnerguy 1 Quote
Chiloquinruss Posted October 18, 2019 Report Posted October 18, 2019 (edited) Each 'grouping' of wheel arrangements have a 'nickname' such as Pacific, Atlantic, American, etc,. However the Big Boy is just a Big Boy. It does fall under a major category of 'articulated' or Mallet locomotives. These are locomotives with two or more sets of driving wheels. In that category there are some other monsters, SP Cab Forward, N&W Y6B, UP Challenger, etc,. Models of these engines can be just as impressive as the full size counterparts. That's the world I live in. Russ Edited October 18, 2019 by Chiloquinruss heppnerguy, Scrappile, RabidAlien and 2 others 5 Quote
Ron Johnson Posted October 18, 2019 Report Posted October 18, 2019 That's some engine. I grew up close to the tracks and remember these impressive monsters smoking down the track. heppnerguy 1 Quote
heppnerguy Posted October 18, 2019 Author Report Posted October 18, 2019 5 hours ago, Karl S said: Beautiful to behold, I miss them a lot. Thanks for the memories. I felt the same way. It was magnificent Dick heppnerguy Quote
heppnerguy Posted October 18, 2019 Author Report Posted October 18, 2019 54 minutes ago, Ron Johnson said: That's some engine. I grew up close to the tracks and remember these impressive monsters smoking down the track. me too.. they are a fascinating vehicle indeed Dick heppnerguy Quote
heppnerguy Posted October 18, 2019 Author Report Posted October 18, 2019 1 hour ago, Chiloquinruss said: Each 'grouping' of wheel arrangements have a 'nickname' such as Pacific, Atlantic, American, etc,. However the Big Boy is just a Big Boy. It does fall under a major category of 'articulated' or Mallet locomotives. These are locomotives with two or more sets of driving wheels. In that category there are some other monsters, SP Cab Forward, N&W Y6B, UP Challenger, etc,. Models of these engines can be just as impressive as the full size counterparts. That's the world I live in. Russ I had never seen a Big Boy train, at least that I remember. What a cool model train. The one at the top look just like the one I saw. it even has a number that is close.. The one I saw was 4014. I see that you live in Oregon. Are the photos from Oregon too? I was born in Tillamook and raised in the Portland area where I lived until 17 years ago when we moved to Heppner, which is south of Hermiston and about 75 miles from Pendleton. Dick heppnerguy Quote
heppnerguy Posted October 18, 2019 Author Report Posted October 18, 2019 1 hour ago, LarryEA said: Beautiful engine! I believe this is a 4-8-8-4 Big Boy A 4-8-8-4 in the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, is a locomotive with a four-wheel leading truck, two sets of eight driving wheels, and a four-wheel trailing truck. Do a search on "4-8-8-4 Train Engine" to see the horse power and weight Thanks I WILL check that out. I have never seen one a large as the one we saw yesterday. It left Casa Grande this morning and I sat on my patio and listened to the horn blow and could see it's smoke for about 15 minutes. What a marvelous train. I am so glad I was able to see it in person. Dick heppnerguy LarryEA 1 Quote
heppnerguy Posted October 18, 2019 Author Report Posted October 18, 2019 2 hours ago, Scrappile said: Here you go Dick, just a little weekend project: https://www.lumberjocks.com/projects/61013 Wow what a model. Impressive to say the least. Of course it is way beyond my mediocre ability but YOU could make it. Dick Quote
Scrappile Posted October 18, 2019 Report Posted October 18, 2019 2 minutes ago, heppnerguy said: Wow what a model. Impressive to say the least. Of course it is way beyond my mediocre ability but YOU could make it. Dick Ya, right! You guys also talk about growing up living close to the tracks.... I grew up living on the wrong side of the tracks!! jerry1939 and heppnerguy 2 Quote
heppnerguy Posted October 18, 2019 Author Report Posted October 18, 2019 Just now, Scrappile said: Ya, right! You guys also talk about growing up living close to the tracks.... I grew up living on the wrong side of the tracks!! you once told me that but look at the beautiful place you live at now. I am so glad I posted this photo as I am learning so much from it and it is wonderful to see the models displayed here, both in metal and in wood. Dick Scrappile 1 Quote
Chiloquinruss Posted October 23, 2019 Report Posted October 23, 2019 I am fortunate to have an extremely understanding wife that allowed me (us) to move to a little village called Chiloquin Oregon. It just happens to be the site of the Worlds Longest Outdoor Hobby Railroad. Train Mountain Railroad Museum The place is called Train Mountain and I get to play (oops) work there every day as a volunteer. My main focus is I have a 40 x 50 wood shop and I build many of the miniature buildings in the 2,200 acre park. Russ http://hobby-tronics.lenzus.com/content/21775739/r/s_97292009.jpg http://hobby-tronics.lenzus.com/content/21775739/r/s_26863640.jpg http://hobby-tronics.lenzus.com/content/21775739/r/s_11092529.jpg Scrappile 1 Quote
Scrappile Posted October 23, 2019 Report Posted October 23, 2019 14 minutes ago, Chiloquinruss said: I am fortunate to have an extremely understanding wife that allowed me (us) to move to a little village called Chiloquin Oregon. It just happens to be the site of the Worlds Longest Outdoor Hobby Railroad. Train Mountain Railroad Museum The place is called Train Mountain and I get to play (oops) work there every day as a volunteer. My main focus is I have a 40 x 50 wood shop and I build many of the miniature buildings in the 2,200 acre park. Russ http://hobby-tronics.lenzus.com/content/21775739/r/s_97292009.jpg http://hobby-tronics.lenzus.com/content/21775739/r/s_26863640.jpg http://hobby-tronics.lenzus.com/content/21775739/r/s_11092529.jpg Be forewarned,,,, I have been down through that area several times in my life. If I ever do it again, I WILL look up your museum and hopefully meet you in the process. I would love to see all of this. Quote
scrollntole Posted October 24, 2019 Report Posted October 24, 2019 Heck, I grew up in Boston, and what I saw was subways!!! Vin Quote
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