Big Boy locomotive under steam

**mklotz** · May 4, 2019, 12:13 PM

Fully restored UP "Big Boy" in motion. I believe that this is the largest working steam locomotive in the world. 35 minute video...

Go to 16:00 to see how its size compares with that of the workers attending it.

**WyoGreen** · May 4, 2019, 05:57 PM

The "Big Boy" left town this morning for it's trip out to Ogden, Utah. It's supposed to be there by Thursday for the golden spike celebration, then it comes back here to Cheyenne. It's been here since 2014 being restored. There was a nice write-up in this mornings paper on it and the guys restoring it.

Steve

EDIT: Some folks stopped by the quilt shop where my wife was working and told her that the Big Boy had some brake problems after it left town.

**VinnieL** · May 4, 2019, 09:13 PM

What a beautiful massive piece of engineering and a labor of love it took to get it back to that condition! Thank goodness it was preserved and restored. It's a rolling piece of history that dates back to when steam was king and the world ran on rails!

**mklotz** · May 5, 2019, 10:02 AM

The other type of monster articulated locomotive was the 2-6-6-6 "Allegheny". Only two still exist, neither in running condition. This one is in the Ford museum...

A better view of it can be had from this model...

**Jon** · May 14, 2019, 12:01 PM

Big Boy 4014 pulling out of Ogden Station, May 12 2019

Fullsize image: https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...n_fullsize.jpg

**suther51** · May 15, 2019, 10:10 AM

As a kid I saw the one parked at steam town USA in pa before it moved. That is a real locomotive!!
Eric

**blkadder** · Sep 23, 2019, 06:25 PM

As a kid, my family went on vacation to VT, and we stopped at a train museum. They had a Big Boy there, and I was nothing if not amazed. The videos do not do these behemoths justice. They are massive. I think that trip is where I fell in love (sort of) with steam power.

**VinnieL** · Sep 24, 2019, 10:35 AM

Originally Posted by blkadder

As a kid, my family went on vacation to VT, and we stopped at a train museum. They had a Big Boy there, and I was nothing if not amazed. The videos do not do these behemoths justice. They are massive. I think that trip is where I fell in love (sort of) with steam power.

I saw the 4014 a month or so in Clinton, Iowa. It came chugging in and stopped. The crew did an inspection, and changed crew members and it took off again after 20-30 minutes. It was quite a sight to behold! I have loved steam engines ever since my first visit to the National Museum of Transportation near St. Louis when I was a little kid. To see something this massive in operation was like fulfilling my kid's wish.

I really expected it to be taller than it was, but it was incredibly long. They were pulling 3 tender cars , and 2 modern electromotive engines as well as several vintage cars. I was told the engine was running on bunker crude oil and had to be started on kerosene in order to get the heat up to thin out the crude to be able to pump it in. Guessing some of the tenders were oil and probably some held water, since they did not take on water at the stop. I was told the modern electromotive engines were there in case of a failure, but more for added braking power.

We were kept behind concrete barricades probably 50-100 yards from the tracks, and I still had problems fitting the entire engine in a photo it was so massive. This was viewing was truly a once in a lifetime thing for me. A large crowd turned-out to see it, probably 2000 people, maybe more were there in the yard and on the overhead bridge watching it. I'll try to post some of the photos I took later.

**Harvey Melvin Richards** · Oct 14, 2019, 05:31 PM

I had Big Boy 4140 go flying by me on October 5th. I tried to make it to the next stop for some still shots, but a 6 car pile up of train chasers slowed me down too much.