We had a chance to see it go by. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity.
BIG BOY IS COMING!!
- Thread starter Joey
- Start date
Good morning
Slide up to the 14 minute mark.
Did I see folks picking up squashed pennies off the tracks right after the last car passed?
We used to do that as kids.
Captain America
Hunter
It'll be coming to Reading on July 2nd, the track it's traveling on is very close to a bicycle trail I ride frequently...I already have my spot picked out!
Some were duct taping coins to the track. One person put down an Eisenhower dollar. We didn't put anything out because I'm in a cast on my ankle and I wasn't going to go through a ditch and walk on loose ballast stone.Did I see folks picking up squashed pennies off the tracks right after the last car passed?
We used to do that as kids.
Sturgis270
Single-Sixer
Good morning
Slide up to the 14 minute mark.
OP
All I can say is WOW!
I wonder how it would fit through the Ridgetop Tunnel?
My oldest brother was 10 years older than me. When he graduated from high school he went to training school to become a railroad telegrapher. His first job was working for the Burlington Northern. Most telegrapher operators were older men with lots of seniority and vacation time coming so my brother would fill in for them all over Illinois. He then enlisted in the Army and was an MP. When his stint was over the railroad offered him a job as railroad detective in Chicago Cicero area which he hated and he quit in short order but maintained a love for the railroad all of his life. He had a massive miniature railroad set up in the basement of his home. He never married or had children so when he passed away my sister and me went together and had a nice tombstone made with a locomotive on it and I think he would be pleased.
How old is the tunnel?
When there built the Big Boys, and other large locomotives they already knew what lines they would be used on. Cheaper to size the locomotives than enlarge a tunnel or strengthen a trestle.
They were articulated so they could handle sharp turns.
Completed in 1905. When he was just a kid, my great grandfather drove a team of mules hauling rock out when they were building it.
From the internet:
Probably a bit short. If you look at 4014 you'll see the "stacks" are not much above the shell. And the cab is even with the shell. These were done to limit height. I've heard, but can confirm that had the Big Boys had taller stacks they would have had significantly more horsepower. I know it helps on stationary fired equipment, so I figure it's true.
When the Big Boys were delivered they had to take a convoluted path to the Union Pacific.
There were bridge and radius and tunnel restrictions. I saw an article about the deliveries and the way they went West.
The locomotive is around 16 feet tall and over 10 feet wide. The height is restricted on a lot of places for it then.
There were bridge and radius and tunnel restrictions. I saw an article about the deliveries and the way they went West.
The locomotive is around 16 feet tall and over 10 feet wide. The height is restricted on a lot of places for it then.
Terry Morgan
Single-Sixer
Get there real early. Big Boy came through Hornell, NY Thursday and stopped for half an hour. Traffic jams almost everywhere, HUGE crowds. Some drove an hour and a half to see it pass by.
