Steam & Excursion > Return to operation timeline guesses

What would you all guess would be a good return date for UP steam?

I'm going to go with 3985 for Cheyenne Frontier Days 2016 if things get pointed in the right direction fast with this new director.

But I know very little about things and it's a wild guess, now lets hear from people who know more than I do (which is about everyone on here).

Winner gets "I told you so" bragging rights later!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/17/15 17:23 by JLW2K.

Practically anything is a wild guess at this point. Lets just let the guy get settled in and see how he goes about rebuilding his staff first. They can't restore these things with no shop crew.

He's been on the job like what, 2 weeks? Give him a bit of time to settle in. Besides, I would think he has a few more eyes on him from Omaha and maybe even some marching orders (like 844 first, etc).

Posted from Android

Doesn't he still nominally work for Ed? If so, I don't see how he will accomplish anything unless Ed has been promoted to Omaha.

lwilton Wrote:
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> Doesn't he still nominally work for Ed? If so, I
> don't see how he will accomplish anything unless
> Ed has been promoted to Omaha.
The way I've heard it is this equals a demotion for Mr Dickens. There is a new boss in the Cheyenne shop a guy who Union Pacific obviously has high value in. He was a director at the jenks shops in Little Rock where they at one time or another do major repairs on every single locomotive in the fleet. Dude is also highly educated with a degree in electrical engineering. Union Pacific brought this guy in to fix stuff. My guess is at some point Ed will be out. As far as predicting anything I can only think they have given a mandate to the new Director. They want a working steam engine. I thinks 844 will run within 18 months. Sooner if they really want to get it done.

lwilton Wrote:
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> Doesn't he still nominally work for Ed?

Absolutely NOT!!!!! On the UPRR a "Director" out ranks a "Manager/Senior Manager", PERIOD.

Thus, the current manager REPORTS to the new Director, and he is NOT real happy about the latest turn of events.

If so, I
> don't see how he will accomplish anything unless
> Ed has been promoted to Omaha.

The current manager, i.e. the dear leader, has NOT been promoted to anyplace.

Hi everyone. I know he just got there, and this thread is similar to asking who will win the superbowl at the beginning of the playoffs even though the teams just got there. It's just for fun, to guess and then maybe look back and see who's right. But if you prefer not to play along, I understand. Thanks!

I think corporate pride will have the Union Pacific lighting a fire in one of their locomotives by December 2015, perhaps sooner. They sent this man there to fix the problem, and most likely they have given him the resources to do so. I've seen the things a Class One will do when they need something done, and done now. This is one of those times.

My wild guess would be....

844 at least a year maybe two.

4014.... 2018 to 2020

3985.... after 2022

Txhighballer Wrote:
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> I think corporate pride will have the Union
> Pacific lighting a fire in one of their
> locomotives by December 2015, perhaps sooner. They
> sent this man there to fix the problem, and most
> likely they have given him the resources to do so.
> I've seen the things a Class One will do when they
> need something done, and done now. This is one of
> those times.

Corporate pride is going to need to fight the checkbook away from the corporate accounts to make that happen. Not saying it can't be done, but they're going to need a big crew to get it done in less than 12 months.

My thought is that it will take no less than two years to return things to ground zero and begin serious progress. In the meantime contractors could be brought in to choose the one engine that could be returned soonest. My guess would be the 3985 as, other than pulling the superheater units and ruining them, would be the closest. Finish the 1472 and go.
Making the shop inhabitable again, shop for replacement for parts and tools that have been scrapped or discarded. I'm told that nothing runs. Diesels, plow, switch engine or anything.
A ton of work to be done to just get back to a workable shop. Not to mention qualified people working there.
Just my humble offering..............

Frisco1522 Wrote:
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> I'm told that nothing
> runs. Diesels, plow, switch engine or anything.

If diesels don't run, I'd just bet the new guy knows of a shop that could handle the situation, and might even have an ex-second-in-command there that might be really willing to prove to a friendly ex-boss just how fast he can get the equipment turned around.

This is assuming the guy from Jinks got to pick his replacement to run the shop.

If the powers that be on the top floor rwant this program to continue and succeed , the money and resources will be there.
C

Carol Voss
Bakersfield, CA

I normally stay out of discussions like this, as I don't have much knowledge on the subject, but I feel like adding a key point.

Court dates have been set for this summer (June?). If the new director has hiring power, who that is knowledgeable and respected in the steam community is going to want to go work there while das leader is still there? Even if he's not in charge, he's still there and still has the title of senior manager. This question is especially prevelant if some of the guys Mr. George hires are guys ed ran out. That's un-needed tension in what's supposed to be a tight-knit operation.

Answering the original question of the thread, my personal thought on this is things will be pretty quiet in Cheyenne until the court dates arrive. The Frontier Days train will run with probably 2 gevos, then we'll see hires and departures. My guess is we won't see steam until fall of 2016, and if I were to put money on the locomotive, it would be 3985. For 844, we don't know the extent of the corrosion inside of the boiler and the tender, so there's no easy way of saying, "yes, an experienced crew could get this back up in xx months." If Mr. George hires people who worked on 3985 previously, IMO they can get the 1472 done and get it back up in 12 months, and that work would probably start around Labor Day 2015.

Like I said, I don't know much about steam and the inner-workings of a railroad shop. This is all just guessing based off what I've read here.
~wko

That does lead to an interesting question. The dl still has his title, but does he have any power?

Posted from iPhone

Defective_Detector Wrote:
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> That does lead to an interesting question. The dl
> still has his title, but does he have any power?


Outside of vapid tasks I would say no simply due the fact that the U.P. added a director position which is above a manager position.

Based on what I've heard Ed Dickens say during the few times I saw him during the 4014 extraction, 3985 won't run again, if it does ever, until after 4014 is restored. So if 3985 runs again anytime soon it will because the new Director made it happen.

When the 4014 program started the sole purpose was to have something running in 2019 for the 150th anniversary that no one else could out do. I heard Mr.Young tell someone this. Of course Mr. Young is no longer in charge so things change. I would love to see the Challenger be first but if the above is still true it is the least important of the three unfortunately.
Steve

JLW2K Wrote:
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> What would you all guess would be a good return
> date for UP steam?
>

According to a TO post from a couple of months ago, there is a good chance that Heber Valley 618 will be operational this year.

Some have dismissed this because 618 is not currently owned and operated by the UP and is not part of the official UP steam program. However, the 618 is an authentic UP 2-8-0.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/15 12:17 by RuleG.

kwo Wrote:
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> I normally stay out of discussions like this, as I
> don't have much knowledge on the subject, but I
> feel like adding a key point.
>
> Court dates have been set for this summer (June?).
> If the new director has hiring power, who that is
> knowledgeable and respected in the steam community
> is going to want to go work there while das leader
> is still there? Even if he's not in charge, he's
> still there and still has the title of senior
> manager.


I think I can say pretty firmly that not one of the
previous crew (the old crew or the new ones he hired
and then got rid of) will come near that place again
as long as he or any of his remaining stooges is there in
any capacity whatsoever.

You have to keep in mind that from the first moment
he walked in the door right up through today he has
devoted himself to denigrating the old crew and blaming
them for everything that happened in steam since the Best
Friend of Charleston blew up in the early 1800s.

There is no way of knowing how many people in Omaha have
bought into this bilge and don't want the old crew members
back because they believe they were all of the nasty things
he says about them. BUT, it must be a pretty good number
of them or otherwise dl would have been fired again long
ago, and before he could make such a hash out of a previously-
successful program and locomotives.




Isn't it about time for another dl disciple to crawl out from
under a rock and demand to know the "truth" and the "facts?"



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/18/15 13:18 by Realist.