Steam & Excursion > turning the 4014

If 4014 were to take a "break-in" trip south--toward Greeley, where would they turn it for the return to Cheyenne?

dougd Wrote:
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> If 4014 were to take a "break-in" trip
> south--toward Greeley, where would they turn it
> for the return to Cheyenne?

LaSalle, Colorado, as I recall.

At Greeley, The Wye at LaSalle was a pain when they used it years ago according to Bob K. and it hasn't got any better.
Steve

where is the Greeley wye?  near the station?

Makes me wonder how much curve this beast can take...I can just see rails spreading apart!

About 6 blocks north of the Station.
Steve

dougd Wrote:
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> where is the Greeley wye?  near the station?

dougd Wrote:
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> If 4014 were to take a "break-in" trip
> south--toward Greeley, where would they turn it
> for the return to Cheyenne?
Not that I know anything official, but here is what I would do.

(1) Breakin around the yard complex
(2) Breakin to Speer and back(Wye there)
(3) Breakin to Greeley.

Next return to shop for some coffee and doughnuts!!! :)

Greg Scholl
http://www.gregschollvideo.com

By design, and safety reasons ( including sad, early experiences ) is the tender/loco “crunch point” at the cab, that determines the minimum curve radius.  So, if the “chassis” could navigate good rails and a well constructed, 24-degree curve, better make the “crunch-point”  at 20-degrees...

Often Times, back in the day, crews would find themselves caught in a quandary of tight radius situations...so, often it was decided to  “try it, any way”... OOOOPS!!!     OH, SHOOT!!     
“Call the Car Department !”

Bent sheet metal and handrails are easier to deal-with, than a helpless Beast on the ground!
Often the stressed rails would simply lay-over.
So, the designers made everybody’s life easier.  Use shorter draw bars.

Bad track is different problem.
Also, Big engines were used to test for rotten track, bad ties and bad rail...effective method;  but,  ruins your day quickly.

Ask HotWater about lots and lots of oak blocking on the water decks of the N&W 4-8-4s tried in locals & freight service...they found all the bad sidings—- quickly ..

​W.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/19 11:04 by wcamp1472.

the old Burlington wye north of town , now opearted by the Great western was rebuilt recently for ethanol trains, is in great shape and  the wye in La Salle is often plugged too

1522 Knows all about rolled rail.

They got the 844(4) around the (in good shape) wye in Vegas with a lot of grease, 4014 might be a whole
other world.

Out

the tender is the problem backwards?  Was there for 3985 problems on the wye in laramie, that wye is gone i have heard

. . . and then there was the wye in Kingsport, TN.  Bob3985 knows all about that one!

Gordon

That was a tender issue too wasn't it? Seems there was a sideswipe back there as well.

Out

callum_out Wrote:
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> That was a tender issue too wasn't it? Seems there
> was a sideswipe back there as well.
>
> Out

We were attempting to back Clinchfield 676 (3985) around the wye tender-first.  Issue was that between the switches of the curved legs of the wye there was a grade crossing of a major street and over the years widening and repaving of the street had resulted in enough of a change in the geometry of the track that, despite several innovative attempts to coax the tender around the curve, the rigid wheelbase of the tender would simply not negotiate it.  So really it wasn't a tender issue so much as a track issue. Earlier sideswipe was unrelated though somewhat similar in that the track center between the main and the first yard track had narrowed after multiple realigning and surfacing of the main track curve.  That one wasn't serious and the Erwin shop guys had all bent metal corrected that evening.

Gordon



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/19 16:45 by gbmott.

They could turn on the Great Western Wye in Greeley on the north end of town, or at LaSalle but it is usually locked with cars, or they could turn on the Pullman Wye at 36th Street in Denver.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

Bob, I looked a Google maps and according to the satellite image it looks like the north Greeley wye has one of its tracks removed.  This is at 3rd street.

John Meixel
Longmont, CO

meixel Wrote:
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> Bob, I looked a Google maps and according to the
> satellite image it looks like the north Greeley
> wye has one of its tracks removed.  This is at
> 3rd street.
Look again - its back. Y OK.

Caused by rail rolling over on temporary trackage during a move of 9000 4-12-2 at Pomona.

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The most recent break-in run with 844 turned in Greeley.