#4004 is one of 8 surviving Big Boys, 25 of which were built between 1941 and 1944
by Alco to handle traffic on heavy grades, particularly on the Ogden-
The locomotive made its last run on 31st October 1958. It was then stored for a few years before being donated to the City of Cheyenne, and was moved to Holliday Park on 28th June 1963.
You can see more Big Boys on this website at the LA County Fair, CA, Kenefick Park, NE, St. Louis Transportation Museum, MO, and National Railroad Museum, Green Bay, WI, pages.
I visited UP #4004 for the first time in March 2008.
My second visit was made in September 2008.
The front end of a Big Boy is an impressive thing. The smoke box was one of the largest
ever applied to a locomotive, and the entire end is hinged so that it could be opened
in just 30 minutes by one workman. One of the first series, built in 1941, #4004
originally had finned after coolers fitted to the handrails. These were soon removed
because of problems with condensation and ice in very cold weather, however, and
set behind the pilot front shield. Here, the Buckeye Steel retractable coupler is
folded away in the pilot. This was seldom done while the locomotives were in actual
operation, as the build-
Walschaert valve gear was standard on UP steam locomotives by the time #4004 was built. Note the wire retainer crosshead nut designed by UP to eliminate problems with breaking of cotter pins.
The red handles beneath the firebox in the first photo release the ash pan. Just above that, and slightly to the right, is the foam meter blowdown, which discharged into a spreader box under the cab.
The middle photograph shows the right rear cylinder, steam supply pipe and front Walschaert gear and cylinder.
The last photograph gives a closer view of the front Walschaert gear and cylinder. The black jacket in the centre covers the chain drive to the Nathan lubricator, just out of view on the left.
The centipede tender was fitted with a rigid frame to give necessary support to the massive water and fuel supply. Train control and fire fighting boxes can be seen at the front of the tender on either side. The recessed ladder gave clean lines, but also permitted maximum fuel and water capacity.
Related links:
www.trainweb.org/.../bigboy%20information%20center.htm
www.cheyenne.org/static/index.cfm?contentID=63
Report a broken link or suggest a new one.
William Kratville’s Big Boy, published by Autoliner in 2004, provides lots of information and some fine photographs of Big Boys in operation (click on the cover to search for this book on Bookfinder.com).
Pentrex have released a DVD showing all 25 Big Boys, as well as a 2 DVD set of footage of Big Boys (click on the covers to search for these DVDs on Bookfinder.com).
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