This is a static display of a Big Boy steam locomotive, the largest ever built.
You can view our videos of a relative of this engine passing by at:
swansongrp.com/4014
and
www.ipernity.com/doc/2543754/49660724//in/album/1261348
The park is located in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Note the well-placed bench for enjoying the view of this remarkable machine.
There are others in static display throughout the U. S. Of course, I also have photos of the 4014, which was restored and has been running through the U. S. starting in 2019.
Thank you for all of your kind comments. Yes, this was the largest, with a combined weight (tender and engine) of over 1,000,000 pounds. It did indeed create the tractive force of two locomotives, and was created partly to prevent the need for a "double header", where two locomotives were tied together to provide more pulling power. One crew could operate this "double sized" engine. These engines were built during WW II in order to haul heavy freight over the Rocky Mountains (primarily Cheyenne, Wyoming to Ogden, Utah) at a uniform speed of 45 miles per hour. That is, they maintained that speed up steep mountains and down steep canyons. Other compound locomotives were built at that time, almost as massive as the "Big Boys". In addition, very powerful non-compound road engines were built at the same time, such as UP 844 (which see). Those engines were designed to haul pretty much anything, and could achieve speeds of 90 miles per hour.
Image processed with GIMP.
20 comments
Fred Fouarge said:
Jaap van 't Veen said:
HBM and stay well.
Nouchetdu38 said:
Pat Del said:
Berny said:
HFF and a happy weekend!
Annemarie said:
Happy coming weekend:)
Herb Riddle said:
HFF, enjoy the weekend. Herb
Erika+Manfred said:
Stephan Fey said:
Ecobird said:
HFF and a good weekend to you
Robert Swanson replied to Ecobird:
David G Johnson said:
Have a fine weekend Robert''' (HFF) and keep well... // Dj.
Robert Swanson replied to David G Johnson:
trester88 said:
GrahamH replied to Robert Swanson:
From: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Pacific_Big_Boy
The Big Boys were articulated, like the Mallet locomotive design, though lacking the compounding of the Mallet.[10] They were built with a wide margin of reliability and safety, and normally operated well below 60 miles per hour (100 km/h) in freight service. Peak drawbar horsepower was reached at about 41 mph (66 km/h).[11] The maximum drawbar pull measured during 1943 tests was 138,200 lbf (615,000 N) while starting a train.[11]