Ralph Berg said:
It’s official
Ralph
http://www.uprr.com/newsinfo/releases/heritage_and_steam/2013/0723_4014.shtml
Let’s see if all the nay-sayers come out of the woodwork now. It would be sad to see 4014 leave the Fairplex compound.
This is great, I can’t wait to see her running!!!
Its an interesting development but there is still 101 things that can stall if not kill it. Remember one of the options is still just to cosmeticly restore it for the anniversary event. To me the drop dead event will be getting the boiler certification. If they can swing that then nothing should stand in the way, everything else can be made or fixed by Uncle Pete.
The boiler certificate and even a complete boiler rebuild is not going to be the problem. When my late father owned California Drop Forge in Los Angeles, he had humongous boilers built for the steam drop hammers. They were built by Dixon Boiler Works in L.A. That company also builds all of the boilers for the Disney properties. That Big Boy boiler is no problem for them. Getting it (the locomotive) to Cheyenne will be a challenge.
No cosmetic restore.
Straight from UP… “Union Pacific plans to relocate No. 4014 to Cheyenne, Wyo., where Union Pacific’s Heritage Fleet Operations team will work to restore it to operating condition”
Ralph Berg said:
No cosmetic restore.
Straight from UP… “Union Pacific plans to relocate No. 4014 to Cheyenne, Wyo., where Union Pacific’s Heritage Fleet Operations team will work to restore it to operating condition”
Nope. 4014 is already in very nice condition outwardly. So a cosmetic restoration by UP would be silly.
While this is great, it will be sad to see 4014 missing at the Fairplex. Wonder what they get for giving up 4014?
Well I sure hope you guys are right, Federal Certification issues can be a PITA.
What’d they get in return? I’m not really aware of any spare steam locomotives Uncle Pete has laying around. Probably a few silly dismals of some sort… or a small pile of cash to help preserve some of the other engines there, last time I was there the Climax’s wood cab was severely deteriorated, I suppose the UP 4-12-2 9000 will become the new Belle of the Ball.
The guys in UP’s Heritage Fleet are no strangers to getting the certification. They went through it when they did the rebuild on 844 and are currently going through it with 3985.
I think the biggest problem in getting through the certification is the little things that you have to do to get it and when your not used to doing it, its even more difficult. Should not be a problem with the UP guys.
I think this is really cool. UP is adding steam locomotive operations while other railroads are cutting back. Good for UP.
The little things always get in the way. Having recently gone thru it with D&RG 315. The other side is there is a known pile of special parts that would be accessible off of the other non runable 4000 series that could be robbed if needed. Such as Steam Valves, Pistons, and etc and swapped out for maybe a better one on one of the others.
Who could turn down a request for part swaps when the 4014 running makes their 4000 series that much more popular.
I have had some inside connections with this project from the start of the rumor of it happening. A friend ( now retired from UP) was head of motive power that covered So Cal, and was responsible for the power for bringing it into Pomona and coordinating the original move. He is still very close to the UP Steam Crew.
Stay tuned, I’ll pick his brain.
Incredible!
Have to get some pictures!
UP took a lot of parts from the only other Challenger in existence. It’s the gray one in North Platte. The oil burner came from it.
Obviously this will take some time to get 4014 back to Cheyenne, but how does rebuilding 4014 fit into the current shop space?