Union Pacific 4014

Union Pacific 4014
Union Pacific "Big Boy" Number 4014 on static display at the RailGiants Train Museum in Pomona, California, United States
Specifications
Power type	Steam
References:[1]
Builder	American Locomotive Company
Serial number	65572
Build date	November 1941
Configuration	4-8-8-4
UIC classification	(2′D)D2′ h4
Gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Leading wheel diameter	36 in (914 mm)
Driver diameter	68 inches (170 cm)
Trailing wheel diameter	42 in (1,067 mm)
Wheelbase	72 ft 5.5 in (22.09 m)
Length	Locomotive: 85 ft 3.4 in (25.99 m) Overall: 132 ft 9 1⁄4 in (40.47 m)
Width	11 ft (3.4 m)
Height	16 ft 2 1⁄2 in (4.94 m)
Weight on drivers	540,000 lb (244,939.9 kilograms)
Locomotive weight	762,000 lb (345,637.4 kilograms)
Tender weight	342,200 lb (155,219.3 kilograms) (2/3 load)
Locomotive and tender combined weight	1,250,000 lb (566,990.5 kilograms)
Fuel type	Coal
Fuel capacity	28 short tons (25.4 t; 25.0 long tons)
Water capacity	25,000 US gal (95,000 l; 21,000 imp gal)
Boiler	95 in (2,400 mm)
Boiler pressure	300 lbf/in2 (2.1 MPa)
Firegrate area	150 sq ft (14 m2)
Heating surface: – Tubes and flues	5,035 sq ft (468 m2)
– Firebox	720 sq ft (67 m2)
– Total	5,735 sq ft (533 m2)
Superheater type	Type A
Superheater area	2,043 sq ft (190 m2)
Cylinders	4
Cylinder size	23.75 in × 32 in (603 mm × 813 mm)
Top speed	80 mph (130 km/h)
Tractive effort	135,375 lbf (602.18 kN)
Factor of adhesion	4.11
Career
Railroad(s)	Union Pacific Railroad
Number	4014
Nicknames	Big Boy
Last run	July 21, 1959
Retired	December 7, 1961
Restored	Commenced August 2013
Current owner	Union Pacific Railroad
Disposition	Undergoing restoration
Restoration includes conversion from coal to no. 5 oil.

Union Pacific 4014, or UP 4014, is a four-cylinder articulated 4-8-8-4 Big Boy-type steam locomotive owned by Union Pacific Railroad. 4014 was retired from service on July 21, 1959 and donated to the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society in Pomona on December 1961. The locomotive reached its destination in January 1962 and has been on display since. Union Pacific 4014 is currently undergoing work ahead of its transfer to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where the locomotive will undergo extensive restoration work which is expected to return the engine to operational status. When 4014 officially returns to service, she will displace UP 3985 as the largest and heaviest operational steam locomotive in the world.

History

UP 4014 was one of 25 4-8-8-4 class locomotives developed by Union Pacific and Alco to overcome issues with the preceding 4-6-6-4 Challenger class locomotives. It was determined that the goals that Union Pacific had set for its new class of locomotive could be achieved by making several changes to the existing Challenger design, including enlarging the firebox to approximately 235 by 96 inches (5.97 m × 2.44 m) (about 155 sq ft or 14.4 m²), lengthening the boiler, adding four driving wheels and reducing the size of the driving wheels from 69 to 68 in (1,753 to 1,727 mm).^[1][2]

The Big Boys are articulated, like the Mallet locomotive design. They were designed for stability at 60 miles per hour (100 km/h). They were built with a wide margin of reliability and safety, as they normally operated well below that speed in freight service. Peak horsepower was reached at about 35 mph (56 km/h); optimal tractive effort, at about 10 mph (16 km/h). The locomotive without the tender was the longest engine body of any reciprocating steam locomotive in the world.^[3]

Alco delivered No. 4014 to Union Pacific in December 1941 and it was fully retired on December 7, 1961.^[3][4] 4014 traveled 1,031,205 miles (1,659,564 km) from Union Pacific during its 20 years in service.^[1]

The last revenue train hauled by a Big Boy (No. 4015) ended its run in the evening of July 21, 1959.^[5] 4014 completed its last run earlier the same day at 1:50 in the morning.^[5] Most were stored operational until 1961, and four remained in operational condition at Green River, Wyoming until 1962.^[6] Their duties were assumed by diesel locomotives and gas turbine-electric locomotives (GTELs).^[7] Of the 25 built, 8 were preserved at various locations around the United States.^[3] 4014 was donated by Union Pacific to the Southern California chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society in 1961. It did not reach its destination of Pomona until January 8, 1962.^[8]

Restoration

The backhead (controls) of 4017 at the National Railroad Museum in Green Bay, Wisconsin. UP 4014, being of similar design, has the same layout.

In late 2012, Union Pacific announced that it was interested in obtaining a Big Boy and restoring it to operating condition.^[9]

On July 23, 2013 Union Pacific announced that it has reacquired 4014 from The Southern California chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society in Pomona, with the goal of restoring it to service. The plan is to move 4014 from Pomona to Cheyenne sometime after the end of the Los Angeles County Fair in late September,^[10][11] although in a later Facebook post officials revised their movement timeline to a point in November or possibly December. Although plans on how to move 4014 to a nearby rail line have not been released, possibilities include building a temporary track across a parking lot to a Metrolink line, or putting the locomotive on dollies to move it to a spur.^[11] Restoration is to begin immediately upon the locomotive's arrival in Cheyenne where volunteers and paid contractors will assist the UP steam crew in the rebuild. On August 27, replacement railroad equipment for display in Pomona were announced to be UP 3105, (née Missouri Pacific 6027), an EMD SD40-2C, an insulated boxcar and bay window caboose UP 24567 (née Rock Island 17149).^[4][10]

On November 14, 2013, UP 4014 was moved from its home at the museum, on temporary track, on to the adjacent parking lot, with plans to take it to Union Pacific's rail yard in Colton, California before its move to Cheyenne.^[12] Union Pacific personnel effected the transfer of 4014 from its display to the cyclone fencing at the northeastern edge of the Fairplex property just a stone's throw from the Metrolink track by attaching tethers to a front end loader, allowing the loader to pull the steam engine across the parking lot.^[13]

On the morning of January 26, 2014, UPP 4014 (recently re-numbered on the U.P. active locomotive roster so as to avoid confusion with UP 4014, a diesel locomotive) was pulled out of the Los Angeles County Fairplex by a 4,300 horsepower Union Pacific diesel locomotive. The Fairplex property had been the Big Boy's home for 52 years where it was displayed on a track managed by The Southern California Chapter of the Railway and Locomotive Historical Society. UPP 4014's ultimate destination for restoration to full operating condition is the Union Pacific Steam Shop in Cheyenne, Wyoming under the guidance of Heritage Fleet Operations director Ed Dickens.

When 4014's restoration is completed, the engine will join the railroad's never-retired 4-8-4 #844 and the 4-6-6-4 Challenger #3985 in excursion service and will officially be "the world's largest operational steam locomotive," displacing the 3985.^[2][3] Union Pacific hopes to return the Big Boy 4014 to active excursion service between 2016 to 2018. The restoration includes a plan to convert the locomotive to oil firing. Plans for operating the locomotive include the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the completion of the transcontinental railroad in May 2019 and the 844's 75th anniversary as well. ^[1][9]

Notes

References

• Allen, David (2013-08-08). "David Allen: Famed Big Boy Locomotive To Depart Pomona’s Train Museum". Inland Valley Daily Bulletin (Inland Valley Daily Bulletin). News. Archived from the original on 2013-10-30. Retrieved 2013-10-30. "Built in 1941, the Big Boy No. 4014 logged 1,031,205 miles hauling freight until its retirement on July 21, 1959." 

• Glionna, John M. (2013-07-29). "Union Pacific To Restore Famed Steam Locomotive 'Big Boy 4014'". The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles Times). Nation Now. ISSN 0458-3035. OCLC 3638237. Archived from the original on 2013-10-30. Retrieved 2013-10-30. "Now Union Pacific plans to transport 4014 back to Cheyenne, restore it to operating condition and use it for nostalgia trips, as it does with two other restored, but smaller, steam locomotives, railroad spokesman Aaron Hunt said." 

• Union Pacific Public Relations (2013-08-15). "Big Wheels Not Yet Turnin'". Union Pacific Railroad. Union Pacific Railroad. Community Ties. Archived from the original on 2013-10-30. Retrieved 2013-10-30. "Members of the UP Steam Team have been in Pomona, Calif., since early August, and will return later in the month for additional assessments." 

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Union Pacific Big Boy.

• RailGiants Train Museum website
• The UP 4014 Project YouTube playlist Videos charting the progress of the restoration of 4014
• Big Boy main page