Its official.... UP to restore BIG BOY 4014

[up1950s]

So , was this one in the best shape , even more so than 4023 ?

http://www.rypn.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=35335&sid=044639ed997f0ac0b63eed2bbbded843

Edit ..... Well if Athearn came out with a modernized 4014 it might not hit the shelves till 2015 , and a modernized 4014 is out of my era . So given every UP Big Boy fans newly stoked enthusiasm , I am thinking the Athearn coal fired 4014 will be eaten up on eBay . To prove my point I just bought the last and only new one advertised 10 minutes ago . I really should get some help about my compulsion , but now I am broke once again .

[mcjaco]

Now the NS needs to get back in the steam business.  Love to see the J back in service . . .

John C.

Pretty sure the J is being worked on again.

[pnolan48]

Very interesting move by UP. A few thoughts:

4014 has been sitting for 50 years. Restoration won't be easy.
Operating condition doesn't mean it will pass all the safety tests for running condition.
I'm pretty sure its axle loadings can be handled by modern rail.
Wii they tow it to Cheyenne or put it on some special car or rig?
Aren't all the major railroads (and perhaps the engine builders) looking to improve their public image?

My BigBoyitis is flaring up again! I think I'll tinker with the old RR ones I have rather then buying the new Athearns.

[peteski]

Pretty sure the J is being worked on again.

Yes. https://www.therailwire.net/forum/index.php?topic=30082.0

To me this is also seems to indicate that the US economy is getting healthier when large companies can allocate funds for fun (and expensive) projects such as the Big Boy restoration. 

[C855B]

So, was this one in the best shape, even more so than 4023?

I would think so. I lived in the Pomona area for several years. Not only is it semi-arid to begin with, the big difference from Omaha is NO SNOW, and much, much reduced temperature extremes. While the 4023 is a beautiful cosmetic job, I'll bet that snow melt, etc., has seeped into places especially in the jacketing and it would be a royal mess when they start taking stuff off. Lauritzen Gardens/Kenefick Park is also within yards of the Missouri River, so add elevated humidity in the last eight years.

Will they tow it to Cheyenne or put it on some special car or rig?

I strongly suspect after a thorough bearing inspection they will tow it. It is so big I doubt there is anything that can transport it (RR or highway) without getting into clearances issues. No surprise if they removed the rods first, however - that many fewer bearings to worry over during transit. Here's a link covering the 4023's move. That was just a few miles, and it was a nightmare. Can you imagine L.A. to Cheyenne? Wowzer.

Maybe apocryphal, but memory recalls something said about the L.A. group's keeping the bearings dry and/or somehow lubed in blind, wishful anticipation of it operating again.

[Kisatchie]

...Here's a link covering the 4023's move. That was just a few miles, and it was a nightmare. Can you imagine L.A. to Cheyenne? Wowzer.

Wow! That's just incredible.


Hmm... next thing you
know, they'll be hauling
blue whales all over the
country...

[Mark5]

What? UP is restoring an N scale Big Boy? Or is this Bob's Big Boy?

(pretty cool on the real Big Boy).

Mark

[C855B]

To me this is also seems to indicate that the US economy is getting healthier when large companies can allocate funds for fun (and expensive) projects such as the Big Boy restoration. 

Yes, but knowing firsthand the value of the positive publicity generated by the Heritage program, UP isn't doing it as a charitable, oh-the-railfans-will-love-this venture. There will be an incredible amount of upbeat, national-level publicity in restoring operation of the "largest, most powerful steam locomotive ever built" [insert usual railfan debates]. When it rolls out, it will make the national TV network news as more than a footnote or end-of-broadcast human-interest piece.

In an era where companies absolutely have to spin public policy to their advantage, I couldn't think of a better way for UP to bank on the assets of their legacy... even ignoring today's corporate UP is not "my father's Buick", as it were.

...Bob's Big Boy?

Yep. Waiting for the first PhotoChop of a 4000 on the burger platter.

[up1950s]

Am I correct in believing all Athearn Big Boys are DCC and sound and all will run on DC and all come with a sound controller for DC users ?

[chicken45]

What? UP is restoring an N scale Big Boy? Or is this Bob's Big Boy?

(pretty cool on the real Big Boy).

Mark

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that.


We have them here Ohio and Michigan, but they are only called "Bob's" out west. At least, for now.

[C855B]

Am I correct in believing all Athearn Big Boys are DCC and sound and all will run on DC and all come with a sound controller for DC users ?

Yes, prior to this year's release. The newest version is sans remote, so it's DCC-or-else for controlling sounds.

[up1950s]

Yes, prior to this year's release. The newest version is sans remote, so it's DCC-or-else for controlling sounds.

Thanks . The seller upon my query about the vacant foam cutout just contacted Athearn and confirmed exactly what you said . He further was told by Athearn that the box and foam wasn't re-designed to have no space for the controller that wouldn't work with the upgraded sound card . So now I can only guess how much better this thing sounds . I hope Athearn hears me better than I can here this no good to DC fan modelers . I am now only half assed happy as I was before , which was full assed happy .

[Mark5]

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that.

We have them here Ohio and Michigan, but they are only called "Bob's" out west. At least, for now.

Yeah Frisch's in that area.

At one time Bob's Big Boy could be found coast to coast.

Mark

[robert3985]

Thanks . The seller upon my query about the vacant foam cutout just contacted Athearn and confirmed exactly what you said . He further was told by Athearn that the box and foam wasn't re-designed to have no space for the controller that wouldn't work with the upgraded sound card . So now I can only guess how much better this thing sounds . I hope Athearn hears me better than I can here this no good to DC fan modelers . I am now only half assed happy as I was before , which was full assed happy .

I'm trying to figure out why you're not "full-happy"??  The POS MRC decoder that had a wireless remote control was BAD, both from an operational standpoint and a sound standpoint (ask me, I've replaced a few of 'em before they melted my tenders on both Big Boys and Challengers). 

The "new" decoder is a Soundtraxx Tsunami TSU-4664N and I am completely happy with both the stock ones in my new Big Boys and Challengers as well as the ones I've replaced the old POS MRC decoders with, which is only logical since they're the same except for perhaps the sound files which may be a bit different...particularly the whistle choices.

"New" TSU decoders were installed in the run previous to this last run also, as Athearn really lost money on the bad POS MRC decoders when they'd fry themselves and the tenders too.

If you're running DC, you don't get wireless control with the new decoders (wireless control with the POS MRC decoders was spotty at best so you needed to make sure you always had the engine in sight, ready to stop it by hand when necessary), but the sound and running qualities are exponentially better than what MRC provided.  With models equipped with the POS MRC decoders, you could only run one engine on your DC layout at a time (unless one was parked on a siding with the power toggled off), because the wireless controllers work on the same radio frequency for ALL the early Athearn BB's and Challengers...so, they'd all start up at the same time, whistle at the same time, chuff at the same time, etc., etc. Also, they were nearly impossible to program, and I could never get them to start smoothly...and...the "choo-chee-choochoo choo-chee-choochoo..." sound really really bugged me.

The only complaint I have with the TSU-equipped BB's and Challengers as they come stock from Athearn are the CV settings, which I immediately change on my programming track after initial testing...and I am "full-assed happy" with the Soundtraxx decoders...especially after experiencing the old POS MRC decoders.

I have one like-new MRC equipped Big Boy which I haven't converted yet, with remote.  If you'd like, I'll trade you straight across for your Soundtraxx equipped BB.  OR...I have several MRC decoders from the first runs that are good (with remotes).  I'd trade you straight across for your Soundraxx decoder.  I'm serious.

[sundowner]

Very cool, I wonder if they are going to renumber SD70m 4014.