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Cost to build US$ 265,000 in 1941, equivalent to $5,489,457in 2023 |
The Union Pacific Big Boy is a type of simple articulated 4-8-8-4 steam locomotive manufactured by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) between 1941 and 1944 and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad in revenue service until 1962.
The 25 Big Boy locomotives were built to haul freight over the Wasatch Range between Ogden, Utah, and Green River, Wyoming. In the late 1940s, they were reassigned to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where they hauled freight over Sherman Hill to Laramie, Wyoming. They were the only locomotives to use a 4-8-8-4 wheel arrangement: four-wheel leading truck for stability entering curves, two sets of eight driving wheels and a four-wheel trailing truck to support the large firebox.
Today, eight Big Boys survive, with most on static display at museums across the United States. One of them, No. 4014, was re-acquired by Union Pacific, and between 2014 and 2019 was rebuilt to operating condition for the 150th anniversary of the first transcontinental railroad. It thus regained the title as the largest and most powerful operating steam locomotive in the world.
In 1936, Union Pacific introduced the Challenger-type (4-6-6-4) locomotives on its main line over the Wasatch Range between Green River and Ogden. [2] [3] For most of the route, the maximum grade is 0.82% in either direction, but the climb eastward from Ogden, into the Wasatch Range, reached 1.14%. [4] Hauling a 3,600-short-ton (3,300 t; 3,200-long-ton) freight train demanded double heading and helper operations, which slowed service. [3] [4] Union Pacific therefore decided to design a new locomotive that could handle the run by itself: [5] faster and more powerful than the compound 2-8-8-0s that UP tried after World War I, able to pull long trains at a sustained speed of 60 miles per hour (100 km/h) once past mountain grades. [5]
A Union Pacific design team led by Otto Jabelmann, the head of the Research and Mechanical Standards section of the Union Pacific's Mechanical Department, worked with ALCO (the American Locomotive Company) to re-examine their Challenger locomotives. [6] The team found that the railroad's goals could be achieved by enlarging the Challenger firebox to about 235 by 96 inches (5.97 m × 2.44 m) (about 150 sq ft or 14 m2), increasing boiler pressure to 300 psi (2.1 MPa), adding four driving wheels, and reducing the size of the driving wheels from 69 to 68 in (1,753 to 1,727 mm). [6] The new locomotive was carefully designed not to exceed an axle loading of 67,800 lb (30,800 kg), and achieved the maximum possible starting tractive effort with a factor of adhesion of 4.0. [4] [6] It was designed to travel smoothly and safely at 80 miles per hour (130 km/h). [7]
To achieve these new engineering goals, the Challenger locomotive was "comprehensively redesigned from first principles", wrote locomotive historian Tom Morrison. [8] The overall design simplified some aspects of previous locomotive designs and added complexity elsewhere. Compounding, booster, and feed water heaters were eliminated, as were Baker valve gear and limited cut-off. But the "proliferation of valves and gauges on the backhead showed that running a Big Boy was an altogether more complicated and demanding task for the crew than running previous existing locomotives", Morrison wrote. [8]
The 4-8-8-4 class series, originally rumored to be called the "Wasatch", after the Wasatch Mountains, acquired its nickname after an unknown ALCO worker scrawled "Big Boy" in chalk on the front of No. 4000's smokebox door, then under construction as the first of its class. [4] [5] [9]
The Big Boys were articulated, like the Mallet locomotive design, although lacking the compounding of the Mallet. [10] They were built with a wide margin of reliability and safety, and normally operated well below 60 miles per hour (100 km/h) in freight service. Peak drawbar horsepower was reached at about 41 mph (66 km/h). [11] The maximum drawbar pull measured during 1943 tests was 138,200 lbf (615 kN) while starting a train. [11]
The Big Boy has the longest engine body of any reciprocating steam locomotive, longer than two 40-foot buses. [12] They were also the heaviest reciprocating steam locomotives ever built; the combined weight of the 772,250 lb (350,290 kg) engine and 436,500 lb (198,000 kg) tender outweighed a Boeing 747. [12] There was some speculation that the first series of Chesapeake and Ohio 2-6-6-6 H-8 “Allegheny” locomotives, built by the Lima Locomotive Works in 1941, may have weighed as much as 778,200 lb (353,000 kg), exceeding the Big Boys, but subsequent re-weighs of early-production H-8s, under close scrutiny by the builder and the railroad, found them to be about half a ton less than 772,250 lb (350,290 kg). [13] [14]
A few experiments were carried out on the Big Boys during their years in revenue service. One experiment saw the conversion of No. 4005 to oil fuel in 1946. [15] Unlike a similar effort with the Challengers, the conversion failed due to uneven heating in the Big Boy's large, single-burner firebox. [15] The locomotive was converted back to coal in 1948. [16] [15] (Decades later, No. 4014 would be successfully converted to oil during its restoration. [17] ) Another experiment saw No. 4007 being modified with a single stack in October 1948. The results were unsatisfactory, and the locomotive was reverted to double stack after testing. [18] One final short-term experiment was the fitting of smoke deflectors on locomotive 4019, similar to those found on the railroad's FEF Series, as well as some of their Challengers. These were later removed, as the Big Boys' nozzle and blower in the smoke box could blow smoke high enough to keep engineers’ lines of sight clear.
The American Locomotive Company manufactured 25 Big Boy locomotives for Union Pacific: 20 in 1941 and five in 1944. [4] [9] Along with the Challengers, the Big Boys arrived on the scene just as traffic was surging in preparation for American participation in World War II.
Class | Quantity | Serial Nos. | Year built | UP No. | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
4884-1 | 20 | 69571-69590 | 1941 | 4000-4019 | No. 4005 converted to oil fuel in 1946 and reverted to coal in 1948. [16] No. 4007 was modified with a single stack and tested in October 1948. Results were unsatisfactory and locomotive reverted to double stack following tests. [18] No. 4019 given experimental smoke deflectors from 1944 to 1945. [20] No. 4014 in excursion service since May 2019. [17] |
4884-2 | 5 | 72777–72781 | 1944 | 4020-4024 |
The Big Boy locomotives had large grates to burn the low-quality bituminous coal supplied by Union Pacific-owned mines in Wyoming. Coal was carried from the tender to the firebox by a Standard Stoker Company type MB automatic stoker that could supply slightly over 12+1⁄2 short tons (25,000 lb) per hour. Water to the boiler was furnished by a Nathan type 4000C Automatic Restarting injector rated for 12,500 gallons per hour on the right side and an Elesco T.P. 502 exhaust steam injector rated for 14,050 gallons per hour on the left side.
Upon their arrival on Union Pacific property in 1941, the Big Boys were assigned to the Utah Division's First Sub, between Ogden and Green River, which included the 1.14% grade for which they were designed. From February 1943 to November of the same year, three Big Boys were assigned to the Los Angeles & Salt Lake Line and ran between Ogden and Milford, Utah. In 1944, with the arrival of additional Challengers and the second order of Big Boys, their operating territory was expanded east from Green River to Cheyenne over the Wyoming Division's Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Subs. Beginning in 1948, with Challenger locomotives taking over the bulk of service between Ogden and Green River, the Big Boys saw only occasional service on the Utah Division, while their operating territory was expanded to include the line south from Cheyenne to Denver. Between 1950 and 1957, they were occasionally assigned to handle trains east of Cheyenne to North Platte over the Nebraska Division's Third Sub. In the final years of steam on the UP, where the locomotives were only fired up to help with the fall rush traffic, the Big Boys saw service only between Cheyenne and Laramie. [21]
In April 1943, UP borrowed a dynamometer car from AT&SF to evaluate Big Boy performance. Several test runs were made on the Evanston Subdivision from Ogden to Evanston (76 miles), and it was found that a Big Boy could consume 11 tons of coal and 12,000 gallons of water an hour operating at full throttle, producing 6,290 drawbar horsepower at 41.4 mph. Designed to haul 3,600 tons up the 1.14% ruling gradient over this subdivision, the tests demonstrated that a Big Boy could handle 4,200 tons, running at an average speed of 18 to 20 mph between those two division points. [11] [22]
The locomotives were held in high regard by crews, who found them sure-footed and more “user friendly” than other motive power. They were capable machines, and their rated hauling tonnage was increased several times over the years (see section on tonnage ratings).
Postwar increases in the price of coal and labor, along with the advent of efficient, cost-effective diesel-electric power, spelled the end of their operational lives. They were among the last steam locomotives withdrawn from service on the Union Pacific. The last revenue train hauled by a Big Boy ended its run early in the morning on July 21, 1959. Most were stored in operational condition until 1961; four remained in operational condition at Green River, Wyoming, until 1962. Their duties were assumed by diesel locomotives and gas turbine-electric locomotives. [23]
In 2019, Union Pacific completed the restoration of No. 4014 and placed it in excursion service. [24] [25] The locomotive was sent on a tour in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the completion of the First transcontinental railroad. [26] [27]
Most grades on Union Pacific's Overland Route were no steeper than 0.82%. So for a majority of the route, Big Boys could handle trains of roughly 6,000 tons in either direction, limited only by the length of sidings and the locomotives' capacity to recharge the train's air brake system. The two exceptions were the 1.14% eastbound gradient between Ogden and Evanston and the 1.55% westbound gradient between Cheyenne and Sherman Hill. In 1953, the latter grade was alleviated by the opening of Track 3 via Harriman, whose 0.82% grade theoretically allowed a Big Boy to haul a 6,000-ton train unassisted the entire 993 mi (1,598 km) from Council Bluffs, Iowa, to Ogden.
Ogden to Wasatch | Wasatch to Green River | Green River to Rock Springs | Rock Springs to Wamsutter | Wamsutter to Rawlins | Rawlins to Laramie | Laramie to Buford | Buford to Cheyenne | Cheyenne to Grand Island | Grand Island to Council Bluffs | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1946 | 3,800 tons | 5,100 tons | 6,700 tons | 5,100 tons | 4,800 tons | N/A | ||||
1947 | 4,450 tons | 6,090 tons | 6,090 tons | 8,000 tons | 6,090 tons | 6,100 tons | ||||
1949 | 6,000 tons | 7,800 tons | 5,900 tons | 5,800 tons | 9,000 tons | 6,800 tons |
Council Bluffs to Grand Island | Grand Island to North Platte | North Platte to Sidney | Sidney to Cheyenne | Cheyenne to Buford | Cheyenne to Hermosa via Harriman trk. 3 | Buford to Laramie | Laramie to Rawlins | Rawlins to Green River | Green River to Wasatch | Wasatch to Ogden | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1946 | N/A | 2,800 tons | N/A | 5,100 tons | 4,900 tons | ||||||
1947 | 3,250 tons | 6,090 tons | 6,090 tons | 6,100 tons | |||||||
1949 | 6,800 tons | 8,000 tons | 6,500 tons | 6,000 tons | 6,000 tons | ||||||
1953 | 6,000 tons |
Speer Junction to Denver (Southbound) | Denver to La Salle (Northbound) | La Salle to Speer Junction (Northbound) |
---|---|---|
8,000 tons | 5,000 tons | 4,000 tons |
On April 27, 1953, No. 4005 was pulling a freight train through southern Wyoming when it jumped a switch track at 50 mph (80 km/h), throwing the engine onto its left side and derailing its tender and the first 18 freight cars of its 62-car train. The engineer and fireman were killed on impact; the brakeman died of severe burns in a hospital a few days later. The tender destroyed the cab of the locomotive, and the loads from the 18 derailed cars were scattered. The locomotive was repaired by Union Pacific at its Cheyenne facility and returned to service until 1962. [38]
Most of the 25 Big Boys were scrapped, but seven remain on static display—two indoors and five outdoors, under the elements—and an eighth, Union Pacific 4014, was rebuilt to operating condition by Union Pacific's steam program. [16]
Type | Road Number | Image | Date built | Serial number | Location | Coordinates | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4884-1 | 4004 | September 1941 | 69575 | Holliday Park, Cheyenne, Wyoming | 41°08′12.30″N104°47′59.4″W / 41.1367500°N 104.799833°W | Received a cosmetic restoration in 2018. [39] Surviving Tender No. 25-C-103 from UP 4002. | |
4884-1 | 4005 | September 1941 | 69576 | Forney Transportation Museum, Denver, Colorado | 39°46′37.38″N104°58′13.8″W / 39.7770500°N 104.970500°W | Wrecked on April 27, 1953 and repaired afterwards. Donated to the museum in June 1970. [15] [40] Surviving Tender late model 25-C-4, unknown number. | |
4884-1 | 4006 | September 1941 | 69577 | National Museum of Transportation, St. Louis, Missouri | 38°34′19.73″N090°27′40.0″W / 38.5721472°N 90.461111°W | To receive a cosmetic restoration. Traveled 1,064,625 miles in freight operation, farther than any other Big Boy. [16] Surviving Tender No. 25-C-104 from UP 4003. | |
4884-1 | 4012 | November 1941 | 69583 | Steamtown National Historic Site, Scranton, Pennsylvania | 41°24′26.96″N075°40′10.8″W / 41.4074889°N 75.669667°W | Was displayed at Steamtown, USA in Bellows Falls, Vermont, until 1984. Received cosmetic restoration, completed in 2021. [41] Displayed outdoors [42] because it is too large for Steamtown's turntable and roundhouse. [42] Steamtown staff believe No. 4012 could be restored to working order, but recommended[ when? ] first determining whether surrounding rail infrastructure could handle the engine's weight. [42] [43] Surviving Tender No. 25-C-114 from UP 4013. | |
4884-1 | 4014 | November 1941 | 69585 | Union Pacific Railroad, Cheyenne, Wyoming | 41°7′46.9308″N104°48′49.1688″W / 41.129703000°N 104.813658000°W | Long displayed at Fairplex RailGiants Train Museum in Pomona, California, [44] No. 4014 was re-acquired and restored to operational condition by Union Pacific, then placed in excursion service in May 2019 at its new home in Cheyenne, Wyoming, as the largest, heaviest, and most powerful operational steam locomotive in the world. [17] Surviving Tender No. 25-C-116 from UP 4015. [45] Currently mated with Tender No. 25-C-311 (taken from UP Challenger No. 3985). [lower-alpha 1] | |
4884-1 | 4017 | December 1941 | 69588 | National Railroad Museum, Green Bay, Wisconsin | 44°29′02.70″N088°02′55.1″W / 44.4840833°N 88.048639°W | Displayed in a climate-controlled shed. [16] [49] An impromptu attempt to bring the locomotive to steam in 1970 was reportedly attempted by visiting rail crew from the Flying Scotsman , but was aborted after 20 tons of coal failed to heat the boiler enough to produce steam. [50] Surviving Tender No. 25-C-404 from UP 4023. | |
4884-1 | 4018 | December 1941 | 69589 | Museum of the American Railroad, Frisco, Texas | 33°08′40″N96°50′00″W / 33.144513°N 96.833444°W | Moved to its current location from the museum's former location in Dallas, Texas, by rail on August 25, 2013. [51] Surviving Tender No. 25-C-101 from UP 4000. [52] | |
4884-2 | 4023 | November 1944 | 72780 | Kenefick Park, Omaha, Nebraska | 41°13′55.7″N095°55′4.1″W / 41.232139°N 95.917806°W | The only surviving Big Boy from the second group built in 1944, and the only Big Boy known to have been moved by highway. [16] Surviving Tender No. 25-C-105 from UP 4004. |
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)A Mallet locomotive is a type of compound articulated steam locomotive, invented by the Swiss engineer Anatole Mallet (1837–1919).
In the Whyte notation for classifying steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, a 4-6-6-4 is a railroad steam locomotive that has four leading wheels followed by two sets of six coupled driving wheels and four trailing wheels. 4-6-6-4's are commonly known as Challengers.
Union Pacific 844 is a class "FEF-3" 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad for its heritage fleet. Built in December 1944 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Schenectady, New York, No. 844 is one of four surviving FEF series locomotives and the only one in operation.
Union Pacific 3985 is a four-cylinder simple articulated 4-6-6-4 "Challenger"-type steam locomotive built in July 1943 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) of Schenectady, New York, for the Union Pacific Railroad. No. 3985 is one of only two Challengers still in existence and the only one to have operated in excursion service.
The Union Pacific Challengers are a type of simple articulated 4-6-6-4 steam locomotive built by American Locomotive Company (ALCO) from 1936 to 1944 and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad until the late 1950s.
An excursion train is a chartered train run for a special event or purpose. Examples are trains to major sporting event, trains run for railfans or tourists, and special trains operated by the railway company for employees and prominent customers.
Southern Railway 4501 is a preserved Ms class 2-8-2 "Mikado" type steam locomotive built in October 1911 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the first of its wheel arrangement type for the Southern Railway (SOU). In July 1948, the locomotive was retired from the Southern Railway in favor of dieselization and was subsequently sold to the shortline Kentucky and Tennessee Railway (K&T) in Stearns, Kentucky, to haul coal trains.
The Cheyenne Depot Museum is a railroad museum in Cheyenne, Wyoming, United States. It is located inside the 1880s Union Pacific Railroad depot. A National Historic Landmark, the station was the railroad's largest west of Council Bluffs, Iowa, and a major western example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture.
The Union Pacific GTELs were a series of gas turbine–electric locomotives built by Alco-GE and General Electric from 1952 to 1961 and operated by Union Pacific from 1952 to 1970.
Norfolk and Western 1218 is a preserved four-cylinder simple articulated 2-6-6-4 steam locomotive, built in June 1943 by the Norfolk and Western's (N&W) Roanoke Shops in Roanoke, Virginia as part of the N&W's class "A" fleet of fast freight locomotives. It was retired from regular revenue service in July 1959, and was later restored by Norfolk Southern for excursion service for their steam program, pulling excursions throughout the eastern United States from 1987 to 1991. It is currently on display at the Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia.
Norfolk and Western 2156 is a preserved Y6a class 2-8-8-2 compound Mallet steam locomotive. The Norfolk and Western Railway (N&W) built it in 1942 at its own Shops in Roanoke, Virginia as the second member of the N&W's Y6a class. No. 2156 and its class are considered to be the world's strongest-pulling extant steam locomotive to ever be built.
Union Pacific 4014 is a steam locomotive owned and operated by the Union Pacific (UP) as part of its heritage fleet. It is a four-cylinder simple articulated 4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" type built in 1941 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) at its Schenectady Locomotive Works. It was assigned to haul heavy freight trains in the Wasatch mountain range. The locomotive was retired from revenue service in 1959 and was donated to the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society; thereafter, it was displayed in Fairplex at the RailGiants Train Museum in Pomona, California.
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway 2716 is a class "K-4" 2-8-4 "Kanawha" (Berkshire) type steam locomotive built in 1943 by the American Locomotive Company (ALCO) for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O). While most railroads referred to these 2-8-4 type locomotives as Berkshires, the C&O referred to them as Kanawhas after the Kanawha River, which flows through West Virginia. Used as a dual service locomotive, No. 2716 and its classmates served the C&O in a variety of duties until being retired from revenue service in 1956.
The history of the Union Pacific Railroad stretches from 1862 to the present. For operations of the current railroad, see Union Pacific Railroad; for the holding company that owns the current railroad, see Union Pacific Corporation.
Western Maryland Scenic Railroad 1309 is a compound articulated class "H-6" "Mallet" type steam locomotive with a 2-6-6-2 wheel arrangement. It was the very last steam locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) in November 1949 and originally operated by the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) where it pulled coal trains until its retirement in 1956. In 1972, No. 1309 was moved to the B&O Railroad Museum for static display until 2014 when it was purchased by the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad (WMSR), who undertook a multi-year effort to restore it to operating condition. The restoration was completed on December 31, 2020, and the locomotive entered tourist excursion service for the WMSR on December 17, 2021. This was the first time an articulated locomotive operated in the Eastern United States since the retirement of Norfolk and Western 1218 in November 1991.
The Union Pacific heritage fleet includes commemorative and historic equipment owned by the Union Pacific Railroad. The fleet currently consists of two historic steam locomotives, three historic diesel locomotives, seventeen modern diesel locomotives in historic or commemorative paint schemes and nearly four dozen passenger cars used on office car specials and excursion trains.
Union Pacific 4023 is a 4-8-8-4 Big Boy steam locomotive preserved at Kenefick Park in South Omaha, Nebraska. Built in 1944 by the American Locomotive Company at its Schenectady Locomotive Works, No. 4023 is one of eight surviving Big Boys and the only one that is part of the class' second group built in 1944, as all seven of the other survivors were part of the first group built in 1941.
Wasatch Railroad Contractors was a railroad equipment repair business founded in 1999 by John E. Rimmasch in Heber, Utah. The company specialized in historic railcar and steam locomotive repairs, and it employed former Union Pacific Steam manager Steve Lee. The company’s headquarters was relocated to Cheyenne, Wyoming in 2005, and the company subsequently opened a steam locomotive shop and a railcar repair facility in Shoshoni, Wyoming.
Union Pacific 5511 is a 2-10-2 “Santa Fe” type steam locomotive built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1923 as part of the Union Pacific Railroad's TTT-6 class. It is the last remaining member of its class and the only remaining 2-10-2 to be operated by the Union Pacific.