Lego union pacific big boy
Обновлено: 02.05.2024
According to David P. Morgan's article, "Big Boy" from the November, 1958 issue of Trains Magazine, the locomotive was mentioned 521 times in newspapers within 45 different states!
Overview
It did so admirably for nearly two decades. This period also began UP's high horsepower era (which continued through the diesel age); an attempt to lower operating costs via massive, single unit locomotives.
The Big Boy's arrived in two batches from American Locomotive, the first 20 were delivered in 1941 and the final 5 three years later. The 4000's were retired in 1959 but a few remained stored into the early 1960's.
Background
Electro-Motive had introduced its new FT demonstrator set in May, 1939 and sales immediately took off. However, Union Pacific, and a handful of others (Norfolk & Western and Chesapeake & Ohio, in particular) elected to stick with steam's proven capabilities.
Laying just a stone's throw from Ogden are Utah's Wasatch Mountains, a beautiful but rugged range that plagued UP since it first reached this location during the 1860's. Its busy Overland Route main line boasted a ruling grade of 1.14%.
In 1936 UP introduced its latest locomotive to tackle these steep grades, the 4-6-6-4 designed by A.H. Fetters. Nicknamed "Challengers" they could produce a tractive effort of 97,350 pounds.
However, even these powerful steamers still required helpers or double-heading to move a 3,600-ton train over the mountain.
Looking for a single unit to do the job, UP's Department of Research & Mechanical Standards (DoRMS), led by Vice President Otto Jabelmann, came up with a new design that was not only powerful but also faster.
In collaboration with the American Locomotive Company (Alco), Jabelmann and Fetters discovered that beefing up the current 4-6-6-4 design would achieve the desired results by increasing the firebox's size, lengthening the boiler, adding two additional sets of drivers, and shortening the driving wheels from 69 to 68 inches.
This difficult stretch was later improved when the railroad carried out a major line upgrade that reduced the westbound track's maximum gradient to 0.82%.
Work on the project began in July, 1952 and was completed on February 16, 1953. At a cost of $16 million it was 9.5 miles longer (42 miles) than the original corridor. Nevertheless it was able to cut transit times by 15 minutes.
Specifications
Builder: American Locomotive Company's (Alco) Schenectady Works
Length: 132 Feet, 9 7/8 Inches
Height: 11.08 Feet (133 Inches)
Cylinders (4)/Diameter/Stroke: - 23.75" x 32"
Total Engine Weight: 762,000 Pounds
Total Engine And Tender Weight: 1,189,500 Pounds (Class 1)/1,208,750 Pounds (Class 2)
Tender Capacity: 25,000 Gallons/28 Tons Of Coal
Weight On Drivers: 540,000 Pounds
Weight On Front Truck: 97,000 Pounds
Weight On Trailing Truck: 125,000 Pounds
Diameter of Drivers: 68 Inches
Firebox: 19 Feet (Length)
Grate Area: 150.3 Square Feet
Heating Surface (Evaporative): 5,889 Square Feet
Starting Tractive Effort: 135,375 Pounds
True Horsepower: 7,000-7,500*
Drawbar Horsepower: 6,290**
Cab Width: 10 Feet, 10 Inches
Other Facts: Four 36-Point Mechanical Lubricators (To Serve 123 Oil Outlets), Roller Bearings On All Axles,
Solomon, Brian. Alco Locomotives. Minneapolis: Voyageur Press, 2009.
"Big Look At Big Boy." Trains Magazine. May, 1956: 31-39. Print.
"Union Pacific 4000 Series." Trains Magazine. July, 1943: 24-27. Print.
Morgan, David P. "Big Boy. That's What An Alco Workman Chalked On The Smokebox Of The World's Heaviest Locomotive Back In 1941, And No One Has Ever Seen Fit To Dispute The Name." Trains Magazine. November, 1958: 40-51. Print.
* Brian Solomon's notes in his book, "Alco Locomotives," that Alfred Bruce noted the Big Boy at 7,500 horsepower while the Trains Magazine article, "Union Pacific 4000 Series." mentioned it could produce 7,000 horsepower with a maximum speed of 80 mph.
Suppliers
Railway Age Editor-In-Chief William C. Vantuono notes in his article, "Requiem For a Heavyweight" published on May 9, 2019 the following suppliers aided in the Big Boy's construction:
- Adirondack Foundries & Steel
- American Arch
- American Brake Shoe & Foundry
- American Throttle
- Barco Manufacturing
- Bethlehem Steel
- Buckeye Steel Castings
- Carnegie-Illinois Steel
- Champion Rivet
- Chase Brass & Copper
- Elastic Stop Nut
- Electro Chemical Engineering
- Flannery Bolt Company
- Franklin Railway Supply
- Garlock Packing
- Gatke Corporation
- General Steel Castings
- Gustin-Bacon Manufacturing
- Hewitt Rubber
- Homer D. Bronson Company
- Johns-Manville Corporation
- Jos.eph T. Ryerson & Son
- Lunkenheimer Company
- Masonite
- Nathan Manufacturing
- National Lock Washer
- National Tube
- New York Air Brake
- Phelps Dodge Copper Products
- Pittsburgh Plate Glass
- Prime Manufacturing
- SKF Industries
- Standard Stoker
- Superheater Company
- Symington-Gould
- Timken Roller Bearing
- Tube-Turns Inc.
- T-Z Railway Equipment
- Ulster Iron Works
- Union Asbestos & Rubber
- U.S. Rubber
- Waugh Equipment
- Westinghouse Air Brake
- W.M. Sellers & Company
- Wilson Engineering
As the story goes the locomotive's name came from an unidentified Alco employ who scrawled "Big Boy" on the smokebox door with a "V" for victory in World War II. It entered service shortly thereafter lugging a train of more than 100 cars.
The Big Boys went on to tackle not only the grades east of Ogden but also worked the Wyoming Division over Sherman Hill east of Lamarie.
Turning And Negotiating Curves
With a length of more than 132 feet (Which prevented operation across much of the system due to lack of adequate turntables. Only 135-footers were in service at Cheyenne, Laramie, Green River, and Ogden.) many wonder how a locomotive as large as the Big Boy could ever negotiate curves without derailing.
Essentially, it enabled Alco and UP to manufacture a large and powerful wheel arrangement by designing a three-point suspension that prevented the Big Boy's massive wheel base from binding in curves or lifting off the rails.
It also tackled the issue of counterbalancing, always a tricky proposition, particularly as length and weight increases.
While the argument among historians and enthusiasts of the "largest" and "most powerful" will likely for forever be debated what cannot is the locomotive's preservation; no fewer than eight Big Boys have been saved, currently scattered around the country on display.
This tantalizing news leaked on December 7th as the railroad contemplated restoring one to operational condition for the railroad's 150th celebration in 2019.
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Spanning 40 meters (132 ft 9¼ in) and weighing 548 tons (1,208,750 lb), The Union Pacific 4006 has been given the accurate nickname “Big Boy”. The steam locomotive produces a mind-boggling 6290 horsepower and to this date holds the record of largest and most powerful steam locomotive in the world! The Big Boy is quite a spectacle too, with the numerous mechanical valve gears spinning and plumes of steam and smoke blasting out from every little hole.
Given LEGOs history of iconic train sets, the U.P. Big Boy must be the crown jewel. Since it has never been produced as an official set, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I present to you: The Union Pacific 4006 “Big Boy”. A locomotive this large presents a lot of challenges; most of which concerning structural integrity. Though this model is mainly a display piece, it was all along very important for me, that the train fits standard LEGO tracks, and that it actually works. 38 wheels is an insane amount on a single model. So to make the thing turn tight enough, I’ve divided all wheelsets into individual articulating sections, that still support the weight 2100 LEGO pieces. And if that isn’t enough, I made the valve gears functional as well, since it’s such an iconic part of any steam locative.
You don’t have to be into trains to find the Big Boy impressive. The final model is absolutely huge and makes for a great living room centerpiece as well as a great train playset. I wanted to make the Big Boy ever since my dad bought a functional scale model of it. It was about the coolest thing ever! Building the train is also going to be an experience, with lots of mechanical parts, interesting (and legal!) techniques, and tons of pieces.
Getting this model approved would be a dream coming true! If you like what you see please help me reach 10.000 supporters. Feel free to share with your friends and train enthusiasts. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions whatsoever, I’d love to hear from you!
The model is built and rendered using stud.io and part designer. As of now, the model is not compatible with power functions, though I’m working on it. Stay tuned for future updates.
Help your fellow builder by leaving your feedback based on these three criteria:
- Originality: How original is this - never seen before?
- Building Techniques: How much skill do you think the creator of this MOC has, in terms of building technique?
- Details: Express how much you like the details of the build.
Your feedback is only shown to the creator as well as yourself. It is not available for other users to see. The creator won't see your user name.
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Submit A Product Idea
Needs to submit to Lego ideas for development and sale.
It'd never make it. The train hobby is already so fractured and splintered into different regions, time periods, passenger, and freight, and Lego even more so for the size of its niche. Even if it did, custom parts aren't usually allowed on Lego Ideas and it's over 3400 pieces.
The largest idea set released has less than a thousand, potentially more depending on the size of the new Saturn v & Apollo 11 set. You can purchase plans for this or other locomotives from Bricklink, and order the parts to assemble yourself. But Lego trains is a deep and expensive hobby, on par with HO or O scale in cost with none of the widespread benefits.
This is so cute I could die! I'm going to have to get some of the instructions from Bricklink (thank you, chokingonlego!) and parts and do some of these. I'm rather new to this and it looks like these would be a fun thing to try, especially since I also rather enjoy Lego toys and games.
You're welcome! Keep in mind with bricklinking MOCs, parts are even more expensive than normal Lego. You have to account for shipping, taxes, and the rarity, condition, and quantity of parts you're purchasing.
It can cost around $0.20 a piece or more, which is about 1.5 times higher than the average set. A good tip I saw was to create a spreadsheet in Excel/Google docs, and put your part list in there. The different pieces you need, and the quantity.
Then in the additional columns list the prices for the different parts by shop, that way you can pick and choose different stores to minimize the money you've spent.
And the last thing of all: You need a foundation. You can buy the motors, bogeys, wheels, track, and everything you need from Bricklink unless you want a static model. A good one I recommend is 60052 Cargo Train, it has everything you need for a train and the starts of a good layout. Have fun being in the Lego Train hobby! :)
Since the last of Union Pacific's fabled Big Boys were retired during the early 1960's many have wondered if one might ever be restored. They were immediate celebrities which instantly captured the public's imagination.
Such prospects, of course, were incredibly slim considering the locomotive's size and girth; the cost was just too great for any historical organization to obtain the millions necessary in restoration costs. Only a major railroad had the necessary capital to do so.
Overview
On May 2, 2019, after three years of restoration, the big locomotive made its initial test run from Cheyenne to Greeley, Colorado.
It went on an incredibly successful PR campaign throughout the 2019 season that saw more than 1 million folks come out to see the big locomotive.
History
In any event, such discourse will not be discussed here. The Big Boy was developed by American Locomotive and the vice president of Union Pacific's Department of Research & Mechanical Standards, Otto Jabelmann to fulfill a need; a steamer that could not only conquer the Wasatch Mountains' stiff grades but do so at a high rate of speed.
This was, after all, the railroad's Overland Route main line and maintaining schedules were of critical importance. Initially, the 4-6-6-4 Challengers, unveiled in 1936, were developed for this task.
- Several railroads went on to operate the 4-6-6-4 wheel arrangement including the Clinchfield, Delaware & Hudson, Rio Grande, Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Western Maryland, Western Pacific, and Spokane, Portland & Seattle. -
They proved quite adept (and UP continued purchasing more through 1944) but as tonnage and demand increased the railroad wanted something more; a single locomotive which could handle a heavy, 3,600-ton freight without assistance through this territory.
The locomotive offered a tractive effort of roughly 135,000 pounds (37,650 pounds more than its smaller cousin) with speeds capable of 80 mph.
Whistle
They were also beloved by crewman with one brakeman stating:
"After all's said and done, they're quite an engine. Best mountain engine we ever had." A fireman added this, "They can say all they want to about the diesels, but when it comes right down to it these s.o.b.'s are tough beat on the hill - put a little warm water in'em and they'll go."
Retirement
According to Union Pacific the locomotive saw its last major overhaul in 1956 and then logged another 41,000 miles before being officially retired in December, 1961. By that time most of the Big Boys had met a similar fate with the final four remaining serviceable at Green River, Wyoming until September, 1962.
Negotiating Curves
Turning a locomotive of more than 132 feet and fine tuning its correct balance, not to mention enabling proper articulation through curves was quite a challenge for Alco engineers and Union Pacific's Department of Research and Mechanical Standards (DoRMS), led by Vice President Otto Jabelmann.
To achieve the Schenectady manufacturer came up with what is described as "lever control."
In his article, "Big Boy. That's What An Alco Workman Chalked On The Smokebox Of The World's Heaviest Locomotive Back In 1941, And No One Has Ever Seen Fit To Dispute The Name" from Trains Magazine's November, 1958 issue, author and historian David P. Morgan reprinted Alco's comments on the term:
"Use of the term 'lever principle' arises from employment of a definitely selected pivot point in the locomotive wheelbase about which the mass of the locomotive rotates with respect to track as the locomotive passes around curves.
On an eight-coupled driving wheel base this is the rear pair of driving wheels in which no provision is made for lateral movement of the axle in respect to the engine bed.
The guiding wheels on the front engine unit (the front pair of truck wheels and the front pair of driving wheels) have provision for ample lateral movement against controlled resistance.
The initial resistance of these wheels is about 17 per cent, increasing gradually as the movement progresses. The second and third pair of driving wheels adjust themselves freely against a somewhat lower initial resistance and through a somewhat less range of lateral movement than that effective on the guiding wheels.
Wheels back of the pivot pair control rear end movement of the locomotive against an initial lateral resistance somewhat lower than that of the guiding wheels. All wheels are fitted to track gauge with a setting of 53 3/8 inches between backs of the tires.
The effect of this arrangement is to produce a rigidly guided locomotive when on tangent track which adjusts itself freely on curves with a guiding force cushioned in its application.
Locomotives. move around curves smoothly with complete absence of the succession of violent guiding oscillations characteristic of many existing steam locomotives.
In counterbalancing, advantage has been taken of absence of the tendency to nose brought about by lateral rigidity of the wheelbase on tangent track to keep down the overbalance which has been fixed conservatively at 28 1/2 per cent of the reciprocating weights.
To relieve tendency of locomotives with long wheelbases to overload the driving springs when passing over concave vertical curves at summits and to underload them with corresponding overloading of the truck springs at the ends of the wheelbase when passing over a convex curve an usual degree of flexibility has been provided in the spring rigging by the employment of coil springs at all points of anchorage of spring rigging to the engine bed and trailer truck.
The locomotive as a whole has a three-point suspension. All driving wheels of the front engine are equalized on each side and the two sides are cross-equalized at the front and to the suspension of the rear end of main equalizer beam, the front end of which bears in the Bissel type center pin of engine truck.
Each side of the rear engine is equalized as a unit from front to back, including both trailer wheels."
Southern California Chapter of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society
Naturally, the big articulated steamer became a prized attraction at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds. Over the years it was well cared for by volunteers and museum staff, allowing it to remain in relatively excellent condition (considering its age), which was also thanks to Southern California's dry, warm climate.
Schedule (2022), "West Coast Steam Tour"
~ The tour is currently postponed due “supply chain congestion“ according to Union Pacific. ~
UP Acquisition (2013)
During the next seven months rumor and innuendo swirled regarding what was to happen.
This news not only caught the attention of the railfan community but also the mainstream media.
During early 2014 the Big Boy moved from its long-time home and returned to Wyoming, which drew coverage wide and far during its long trip, particularly the initial move out of the fairgrounds (which required temporary track laid across the parking lot).
Specifications
| Builder | Serial Number | Date Built | Maximum Tractive Effort | Wheel Base (Engine & Tender) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alco | 69585 | 9/1941 | 135,375 Pounds | 117 1/2 Feet |
Current Operations
It is not only cleaner but also greatly improved logistics. Following a series of updates on the restoration, a major event occurred on the night of May 1, 2019 when Union Pacific moved the locomotive moved out of the Cheyenne Roundhouse under its own power for the first time since making its final revenue run on July 21, 1959.
The following day she stretched her legs by undergoing a test run to Greeley, Colorado. Over the next few days she made her way to Ogden to participate in the Transcontinental Railroad's sesquicentennial (May 9th).
UP X4014 on the first leg of it's journey to Cheyenne, seen here passing through Ontario on the way to West Colton.
Twenty-five Big Boys were built exclusively for Union Pacific Railroad, the first of which was delivered in 1941. The locomotives were 132 feet long and weighed 1.2 million pounds. Because of their.
Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 - Big Boy is one of the toughest pieces of machinery in the world. If it were to be taken apart, the metal could build hundreds of thousands of cars. Once she is up and running, she can go as fast as 70 mph.
Union Pacific "Big Boy", 4000 Series Engine, Composite line Drawing(4000), As-Built Engine (4002) and In-Service Picture (4022). The Big Boy is the largest articulated steam engine ever built. Nothing like the Big Boy has been seen since. Only eight (8) remain in existence.
This is the most powerful steam locomotive ever made, the Challenger! Still in operation as as Union Pacific train
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