Steam & Excursion > Ed Dickens to speak at PRS 80th Christmas Luncheon

Ed Dickens Jr., Sr. Manager, Union Pacific Heritage Operations, Steam Locomotive Shop will be the guest speaker at this year’s Pacific Railroad Society's  80th Annual Christmas Luncheon.  Ed is in charge of the restoration of the world’s largest steam locomotive, the Big Boy 4014.  He will not only update us on the current restoration project but will announce other future UP Heritage projects.  Seating will be limited to the first 90 who buy their tickets.  Fill out the attached form and mail it in for a once in a lifetime presentation on this massive restoration project.  You may also download the form from the Pacific Railroad Society website. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/23/16 19:38 by edsaalig.

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Oh brother, more people who'll be filled with his bull crap claims!

Cranking up the popcorn machine as we speak. Perhaps someone will buy a ticket who has some "real" questions for Mr. Dickens??   Could be interesting especially if someone catches it on their cell phone video !!

    Ross Rowland

I agree with Ross......to bad I do not have the $$ to buy all the tickets out so he would have no one to talk to.

Posted from iPhone

Relax, people.  It will get done.

Just look at the amount of time and money plowed into
844 to repair the results of not taking proper care of the
water or the boiler.  If they can spend that much for that,
you can rest assured that money will be no object here.

It will probably get done relatively quickly, too. The "reason" that will be given will be along the lines of, "Well, it didn't get beaten to death and totally neglected by previous crews, like 844 and 3985 did."



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/24/16 11:08 by Realist.

I'll be out of pocket that day.   I have a serious issue with my shoe trees that needs attention.

I certainly have no ill will towards the PRS, I barely know who they are, but if ANYBODY with the group has been paying attention for the last five years, they might think twice before inviting someone so despised by the steam restoration community (and by that, I mean the people who actually make the steamers go, not just drool over them) to be their guest speaker.  Well, they say there is no such thing as bad publicity, so maybe it will work for you guys....

Ross I will offer you a free ticket so you can ask Ed the "right" himself.

ProAmtrak Wrote:
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> Oh brother, more people who'll be filled with his
> bull crap claims!

Yeah, well, "past is no guarantee of future performance." :-)

ED might have a track record of "fibbing" his knowledge on steam locomotives, but I wouldn't underestimate his political deviousness, so I suspect there's an ulterior motive for him to go to California to speak for the PRS.

He might be on a recruiting trip to get some people to help with the UP 4014. He may realize now that recruiting locally (Utah/Colorado/Wyoming/Nebraska) may not go well due to his reputation, so he's going outside the area to hire unsuspecting people. As I mentioned in another thread, whoever wants to work for him should be very careful, especially if the person is self-motivated and an indepedent thinker (problem solver). Your knowledge will be "stolen" and if you show any sign of insubordination, get ready to be flushed down the Machiavellian toilet.

Other than that, I hope the Luncheon goes well for PRS's sake.
 

Let's hope it's a successful event. If I were not on the wrong coast I'd accept the free ticket and gladly ask Mr. Dicken's a short list of direct questions mostly to see if he has learned sufficiently from his past mistakes ( flat tires, huge build up of slag in boiler, extremeley high team turnover, lawsuits, hanging halfway out cab window hatless etc.) to avoid similar issues down the road. I am not at all judging him as a human being as that task is reserved for the Almighty.

   The good news is that Omaha has somehow decided that despite his gross incompetence they think enough of the steam piece to continue funding it with him at the helm. Let's hope that faith continues and that Mr. Dickens can in fact learn from experience and thus raise his performance to at least the semi-professional level for the good of all concerned?

   Hope springs eternal.

   Ross Rowland