Union Pacific 4014

Union Pacific 4014

Union Pacific "Big Boy" Number 4014 on static display at the RailGiants Train Museum in Pomona, California

Type and origin References:[1] Power type Steam Builder American Locomotive Company Serial number 65572 Build date September 1941

Specifications Configuration 4-8-8-4 UIC class (2′D)D2′ h4 Gauge 4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Leading dia. 36 in (914 mm) Driver dia. 68 inches (170 cm) Trailing dia. 42 in (1,067 mm) Wheelbase 72 ft 5.5 in (22.09 m) Length Locomotive: 85 ft 7.8 in (26.11 m) Overall: 132 ft 9 ^7⁄8 in (40.48 m) Width 11 ft (3.4 m) Height 16 ft 2 ^1⁄2 in (4.94 m) Adhesive weight 540,000 lb (244,940 kilograms) Loco weight 762,000 lb (345,637 kilograms) Tender weight 342,200 lb (155,219 kilograms) (2/3 load) Total weight 1,250,000 lb (566,990 kilograms) Fuel type Coal (to be converted to No. 5 Oil) Fuel capacity 28 short tons (25.4 t; 25.0 long tons) Water cap 24,000 US gal (91,000 l; 20,000 imp gal) Firebox:  • Firegrate area 150 sq ft (14 m^2) Boiler 95 in (2,400 mm) Boiler pressure 300 lbf/in^2 (2.1 MPa) Heating surface 5,735 sq ft (533 m^2)  • Tubes and flues 5,035 sq ft (468 m^2)  • Firebox 720 sq ft (67 m^2) Superheater: ​  • Type Type A  • Heating area 2,043 sq ft (190 m^2) Cylinders 4 Cylinder size 23.75 in × 32 in (603 mm × 813 mm)

Performance figures Maximum speed 80 mph (130 km/h) Power output 6,290 hp (4,690 kW) Tractive effort 135,375 lbf (602.18 kN) Factor of adh 4.11

Career Operators Union Pacific Railroad Numbers 4014 Nicknames Big Boy Last run July 21, 1959 Retired December 7, 1961 Restored Commenced August 2013 Current owner Union Pacific Railroad Disposition Undergoing restoration for excursion service, and will be based on Cheyenne, Wyoming, in roundhouse once restoration is completed

Restoration includes conversion from coal to no. 5 oil.

Union Pacific 4014, or UP 4014, is a four-cylinder articulated 4-8-8-4 Big Boy-type steam locomotive owned by Union Pacific Railroad. 4014 was retired from service on July 21, 1959 and donated to the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society in Pomona on December 1961. The locomotive reached its destination in January 1962 and was displayed in Fairplex through 2013. Thereafter, Union Pacific 4014 was moved to Union Pacific's Steam Shop in Cheyenne, Wyoming, where it is now being extensively restored back to running condition. When 4014 returns to running condition, it will displace UP 3985 as the largest, heaviest and most powerful operational steam locomotive in the world.

History

UP 4014 was one of 25 4-8-8-4 class locomotives developed by Union Pacific and Alco to overcome issues with the preceding 4-6-6-4 Challenger class locomotives. It was determined that the goals that Union Pacific had set for its new class of locomotive could be achieved by making several changes to the existing Challenger design, including enlarging the firebox to approximately 235 by 96 inches (5.97 m × 2.44 m) (about 155 sq ft or 14.4 m²), lengthening the boiler, adding four driving wheels and reducing the size of the driving wheels from 69 to 68 in (1,753 to 1,727 mm).^[1][2]

The Big Boys are articulated, like the Mallet locomotive design. They were designed for stability at 80 miles per hour (130 km/h). They were built with a wide margin of reliability and safety, as they normally operated well below that speed in freight service. Peak horsepower was reached at about 35 mph (56 km/h); optimal tractive effort, at about 10 mph (16 km/h). The locomotive without the tender was the longest engine body of any reciprocating steam locomotive in the world.^[3]

Alco delivered No. 4014 to Union Pacific in December 1941 and it was retired on December 7, 1961.^[3][4] 4014 traveled 1,031,205 miles (1,659,564 km) for Union Pacific during its 20 years in service.^[1]

The last revenue train hauled by a Big Boy (No. 4015) ended its run in the evening of July 21, 1959.^[5] 4014 completed its last run earlier the same day at 1:50 in the morning.^[5] Most were stored operational until 1961, and four remained in operational condition at Green River, Wyoming until 1962.^[6] Their duties were assumed by diesel locomotives and gas turbine-electric locomotives (GTELs).^[7] Of the 25 built, 8 were preserved at various locations around the United States.^[3] 4014 was donated by Union Pacific to the Southern California chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society in 1961. It did not reach its destination of Pomona, however, until January 8, 1962.^[8]

Restoration

The backhead (controls) of 4017 at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin. UP 4014, being of similar design, has the same layout.

In late 2012, Union Pacific announced that it was interested in obtaining a Big Boy and restoring it to operating condition.^[9]

On July 23, 2013 Union Pacific announced that it has reacquired 4014 from The Southern California chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society in Pomona, with the goal of restoring it to service.^[4]

On November 14, 2013, UP 4014 was moved from its home at the museum, on temporary track, on to the adjacent parking lot, with plans to take it to Union Pacific's rail yard in Colton, California before its move to Cheyenne.^[10] Union Pacific personnel carried out the transfer of 4014 from its display to the cyclone fencing at the northeastern edge of the Fairplex property at several feet from the Metrolink track by attaching tethers to a front end loader, allowing the loader to pull the steam engine across the parking lot.^[11]

On the morning of January 26, 2014, UPP 4014 (recently re-numbered on the U.P. active locomotive roster so as to avoid confusion with an EMD SD70M diesel locomotive presently using the number 4014) was pulled out of the Los Angeles County Fairplex by the Southern Pacific liveried diesel locomotive UP 1996^[12] (part of UP's Heritage Series of locomotives).^[13] UPP 4014's destination for restoration to full operating condition was the Union Pacific Steam Shop in Cheyenne, Wyoming under the guidance of Heritage Fleet Operations director Ed Dickens. On February 2014, UP 3105 (née Missouri Pacific 6027), an EMD SD40-2C, UP insulated boxcar 453665 and bay window caboose UP 24567 (née Rock Island 17149) took No. 4014's place in the museum.^[14][15] On May 8, 2014, UP 4014 arrived in Cheyenne.

When 4014's restoration is completed, the engine will join the railroad's never-retired 4-8-4 #844 and the 4-6-6-4 Challenger #3985 in excursion service and will officially be "the world's largest operational steam locomotive," displacing the 3985.^[2][3] Union Pacific hopes to return the Big Boy 4014 to active excursion service between 2017 to 2019. The restoration includes a plan to convert the locomotive to oil firing. Plans for operating the locomotive include the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad in May 2019 and the 75th anniversary of Union Pacific 844 as well.^[1][9]

Notes

1. "Big Boy No. 4014". Union Pacific Railroad. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
2. "The History of the Challengers". www.up.com. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
3. "UP: A return to steam for Big Boy 4014". Railway Age. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
4. "Union Pacific Railroad Acquires Big Boy Locomotive No. 4014". Union Pacific Railroad (Press release). 23 July 2013.
5. "Big Boy". Southern California Chapter Railway and Locomotive Historical Society.
6. "4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" Locomotives". www.steamlocomotive.com. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
7. Klein, Maury (2006) [1989]. Union Pacific: Volume II, 1894-1969. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. p. 479. ISBN 0816644608. OCLC 276175222.
8. "Big Boy #4014 History". Retrieved 2013-08-07.
9. "Union Pacific looking to restore Big Boy for excursion service". Trains. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
10. "Union Pacific Corporation : Union Pacific Big Boy Locomotive Begins Journey From California To Wyoming" Nov. 14th, 2013, retrieved Nov. 14th, 2013 http://www.4-traders.com/UNION-PACIFIC-CORPORATION-14754/news/Union-Pacific-Corporation--Union-Pacific-Big-Boy-Locomotive-Begins-Journey-From-California-To-Wyomi-17464118/
11. "The UP 4014 Project - Nov. 6, 2013". YouTube. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
12. http://web.archive.org/web/20140222164114/http://www.up.com/newsinfo/community_ties/2014/january/0127_4014_colton.shtml. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved February 17, 2014. Missing or empty |title= (help)
13. "Southern Pacific Railroad". UP. Retrieved 2016-02-28.
14. "Big Boy #4014 News". 2013-07-23. Retrieved 2013-08-07. (subscription required (help)).
15. "SD40-2, caboose placed at Pomona museum". Trains Magazine. 2014-02-24. Retrieved 2015-11-23.

References

• Allen, David (2013-08-08). "David Allen: Famed Big Boy Locomotive To Depart Pomona’s Train Museum". Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin). News. Archived from the original on 2013-10-30. Retrieved 2013-10-30. Built in 1941, the Big Boy No. 4014 logged 1,031,205 miles hauling freight until its retirement on July 21, 1959.

• Glionna, John M. (2013-07-29). "Union Pacific To Restore Famed Steam Locomotive 'Big Boy 4014'". The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles Times). Nation Now. ISSN 0458-3035. OCLC 3638237. Archived from the original on 2013-10-30. Retrieved 2013-10-30. Now Union Pacific plans to transport 4014 back to Cheyenne, restore it to operating condition and use it for nostalgia trips, as it does with two other restored, but smaller, steam locomotives, railroad spokesman Aaron Hunt said.

• Union Pacific Public Relations (2013-08-15). "Big Wheels Not Yet Turnin'". Union Pacific Railroad. Union Pacific Railroad. Community Ties. Archived from the original on 2013-10-30. Retrieved 2013-10-30. Members of the UP Steam Team have been in Pomona, Calif., since early August, and will return later in the month for additional assessments.

External links

• RailGiants Train Museum website
• The UP 4014 Project YouTube playlist Videos charting the progress of the restoration of 4014
• Big Boy main page