Steam & Excursion > Pomona, 4014, panels, parking lot

My feeble attempt investigating how to move a BigBoy on panel track to a main and run it head first over the MetroLink flyover near San Bernardino Depot? Unofficial of course.

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You've officially made me dizzy.

I would think they would move it by truck.

Posted from Android

What would need to be done to get it to Cheyenne? Remove side rods check bearings. 1200 miles of restricted speed due to unbalanced drivers. Any connection tracks tighter than 20 degrees? Line side obstructions on curves? A lot of headaches for everyone along the way.

Posted from iPhone

it would be interesting to hear how they got it to Pomona. I didn't realize the UP4000's were limited to certain districts, apparently east of SLC or somewhere around there. Definitely Industrial archeology.

In the 1990s there was an intense online discussion about Big Boy restoration when a movie proposal rumor hit the news.

Someone listed all the work that went into getting the 4014 from SLC to Pomona, and the list was long.

I don't recall if the conversation took place on misc.transport.railroads.america (in which case it is archived) or on Trainlrders.com (in which case it was probably in the early years, which were purged in about 1999).

Does anyone else remember this discussion? Or where to find it?

Ted, on the Empire Builder near Shelby, MT

Posted from iPhone

Sheesh, they'd be better off restoring it at the fairgrounds and steaming it east.

When UP needed to commence movement of 4023 from near Omaha Shop main office building to the "first" Kenefick Park the crew performing this work actually "skidded" it around on the concrete lot, right on the track panels, in order to face it in a direction which would allow them to begin making way around east side of shop in a northeasterly direction.

In addition, when S.A. Lee and crew came to Omaha to remove 4023 from the same Kenefick Park and begin movement to temporary display near Union Station they had to negotiate a very tight curve in order to begin movement back south toward the shop after rolling the engine down from the raised park display area. I have video of Steve riding the pilot step with long engineer's oiler in hand. Please trust me when I advise that you have never seen a large articulated engine with THAT much articulation of the front engine. Viewed from 7/8ths rear it looked like the front engine had decided to turn hard left!

John Bush
Omaha

I think you can do it a lot more simply than that. That engine can take a 20 degree curve according to its specs. That is roughly a 300 foot radius. (300' = 18.9 degrees.) If you lay that out I think you will find you can just run straight up the NW side of the parking lot and join onto the Metrolink line wherever is convenient.

Rumor has it that when 4005 was moved onto the Forney Museum grounds in Denver, something got bent out of shape when the engine was shoved around a curve that was too tight (see this old thread, among others):

http://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?10,1025533

Can anyone verify that this is true, and if it is, fill in the missing details - what parts were damaged, and how sharp was the curve in question?

Looking a tthe old thread I see a number of rumors of damage and mishandling or dismemberment, all more or less unconfirmed. The one that seems most specifically related to turning would be:

> Rumor has it that #4005 was damaged (the articulated main steam pipe joints specifically) in its move to the original ...

This seems to me a perfectly believable thing if they horsed her around a really tight curve, or possibly even if someone had done a crane lift and let the front engine slide to the side too far. I haven't spent that much time around 4014, but my impression that the steam delivery doesn't use rubber hoses, so there are going to be some pretty solid limits on how far articulated joints are willing to move.

I think though that there are two relatively good things to think about though: 1) The engine is rated for a 20 degree minimum curve. Other than possibly getting 4014 out from the surround of other engines at the fairground, there is no need for a curve anywhere near this sharp*; and 2) even if the articulated fittings are damaged, they are probably one of the cheaper and easier things to replace, even if it means making some castings.

This engine hasn't moved a foot in something like 50 years now. That's a lot of time to biuld up a coating of rust and over-zelous paint in a number of important places, and a long time for dirty old grease to harden up and turn to gravel. If they want to do the TLC method of moving this engine, there is a lot more to grease than the rod and axle bearings. At a minimum, they have to look to the sliding and pivoting mechanism for the lead engine, and that would perhaps include disconnecting the articulated steam fittings for the initial move.

* You could easily do the whole thing using 600' radius curves, which are 8.2 degrees, according to a real quick layout I just drew on the map of the parking lot.

UP 4014 was moved across that parking lot in April 1989, as were all locos.

I hope they don't move it while the drag races are going on. A Big Boy at the finish line could ruin John Force's day.