Steam Power!! WOW!

Absolutely Stunning!...like a step backwards in time!

It's pretty heartwarming to see how many people showed up to see something most people will never see. A big steam locomotive in action. At over 600 tons, it is one of the largest steam locomotives ever built. This thread is about locomotive, # 4014, which is the only operational one left in the world. It just completed a 7 year restoration to operational status from sitting at a static display in CA. Capable of traveling at 80 mph, and originally developed to haul freight on the Union Pacific line through the mountains of Wyoming and Utah, this is truly a masterpiece of history in motion.

The following video is not #4014 (because 4014's restoration was not yet complete in 2017 when this was filmed), but you can get the idea. In the video you see Union Pacific's locomotive #844 which was a smaller version weighing in at a staggering 450 tons. UP 4014 weighs 150 tons more in comparison.

Enjoy this wonderful display of power and beauty from a bygone era:



1404 has been restored just in time to attend the 150th Golden Spike Anniversary this coming month. It took nearly a year to move it from CA to the UP steam restoration shop in Cheyenne, Wy. On May 4th it will begin its trip from Cheyenne to Ogden Utah for the celebration, stopping at cities along the way. UP 844 (the one pictured in the video) will also be making the trip to Ogden for the celebration.

If you have a chance to go see this it is very likely a once in a lifetime opportunity to see history on display.

P.S. I wish I could attend because one of the stops is my home town in Wyoming. Sadly though, I am unable to due to other commitments back east.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Believe it or not but they actually used to cook with locomotives, too.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

Nice looking engine.



My favourite is " The Flying Scotsman ". Top speed 125 mph. I don't think they run it up to that these days though.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

They cheated with a pusher Diesel in the video.

I used to go to a steam tractor show here in WNY every year.

I appreciate and share your enthusiasm for steam.

a reply to: stosh64

They cheated with a pusher Diesel in the video.

If I'm not mistaken, they did the day before this video, but not in this video. However, the diesel was idling when it went by, so it wasn't shut completely down, but it didn't look like it was under any load.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk


Here is UP's 4014 from a few days ago, almost ready.

I so wish I could see it in person!

It's a glorious day as Union Pacific #4014 blows it's whistle for the first time. It took 5 long years of work and millions of dollars spent, and now we see the giant come back to life. The steam crew put heart and soul into this locomotive working night and day sometimes 7 days a week.

Now we see the stunning results of so much hard work outside the steam shop in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Union Pacific, Big Boy, #4014 will soon be the Worlds largest operating steam locomotive. Weighing a astronomical 1,250,000 pounds, this locomotive will turn heads everywhere it goes.

In this video we see the steam crew slowly bringing the locomotive up to the 300 PSI operating pressure. Later we see one of the safety valves opening releasing excess steam. This was the first time the whistle was blown under steam.

The whistle may sound terrible at first but this is common for all steam locomotives. The steam is very wet and very saturated after a steam locomotive has been sitting for any period of time. Water is often in the whistle pipe and it needs to be blown out with dry steam. This can take anywhere from under a minute or several minutes.

Looks so heavy and cool

a reply to: stosh64

Yeah, I had watched that video earlier, but I thought folks here might want to see one underway.

I don't think most people realize how big these things are. They think of a steam locomotive and picture the old single drives. They might weigh 100 tons. Locomotives like 4014 are mammoth in commparison, more than 6x larger!

I was reading that there is one other "Big Boy" which they are now considering for restoration. Somewhere back east. Their challenge right now is their 'turn table' will not handle the massive 1.2 million pound locomotive, and they question whether their bridges and trestles leading out of the area are incapable of taking it's astronomical weight. So I guess what they're doing now is evaluating how much it will cost in infrastructure to get it out to the heavy rail lines out west.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

So when was this thing originally built and in operation?

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

I love the steam era.
There’s a group in town here that build steam engines and display them at various festivals and what not.
Really cool stuff.
I’m also into steampunk, hence my avatar.
That tiger is something I made out of pocket watch parts.
Not steam powered lol but inspired by it.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

@ the 5:30 mark, that train is clipping!

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

It would probably not live up to the fantasy, but the idea of going cross country in one back in the day is a dream.

originally posted by: KansasGirl
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

So when was this thing originally built and in operation?

The one in the video (UP 844) was built in 1944 and has never been officially retired making it one of the oldest UP trains still in service. UP 4014, the one they just restored was built in 1941 and remained in service until 1959.

These steam engines generated 4,500hp to 6,500hp and could apply 135,000 ft/lbs of torque to the track.

originally posted by: KansasGirl
a reply to: Flyingclaydisk

So when was this thing originally built and in operation?

The one in the video (UP 844) was built in 1944 and has never been officially retired making it one of the oldest UP trains still in service. UP 4014, the one they just restored was built in 1941 and remained in service until 1959.

These steam engines generated 4,500hp to 6,500hp and could apply 135,000 ft/lbs of torque to the track.

originally posted by: Flyingclaydisk
a reply to: stosh64

They cheated with a pusher Diesel in the video.

If I'm not mistaken, they did the day before this video, but not in this video. However, the diesel was idling when it went by, so it wasn't shut completely down, but it didn't look like it was under any load.

No accident that it was there, though, just in case stuff happened.

a reply to: schuyler

No doubt!

Trains are my favorite way to travel, even over flying. There's just something really cool about going through a western mountain pass in the middle of a January snowstorm on a train, looking out and not seeing a footprint or evidence of civilization for miles. And there's a bar car.

I've ridden a train crosscountry 3 or 4 times and those memories will always stick with me.

a reply to: Flyingclaydisk


I've ridden behind the 844 and the 3985 previously, both times from Denver down to Cheyenne for Frontier Days.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

Pretty rare to get a seat on one of these trains! The ride on 4014 just from Ogden to Evanston, Wy has been sold out for a couple years. To ride in regular coach was $2,500 and to ride up top in the bubble was $5,000 per seat...and that includes a "box lunch". No dining car. It's 80 miles. And, that's on the way back!!

I'd probably surrender a nut to ride from Cheyenne to Rock Springs! That's like 5 segments (Laramie, Medicine Bow, Rawlins, Wamsutter, and Rock Springs (my home) where it overnights. That'd be a $10,500 ride, even in coach. Then Green River, and west through Evanston, Morgan and ultimately Ogden. This whole corridor was my stomping grounds.

A slice of history I will miss. Sadly.

a reply to: AugustusMasonicus

AM, I've done a lot of cool stuff in my life, but I've never ridden behind UP 844. I can only wish.

You are a privileged man.

Respect.