Hello Bob.
Saturday October 25 1997 11:36, Bob Wallace wrote to Bob Wingender:
 BW> Hi, Bob.
 BW>> Was trying to remember the "Wasatch Range" in last message but 
ouldn't.
 BW>> Sti wouldn't be as big a territory that the Challenger can go. Just try
 BW>> to visualize 1 more driver on each engine and you'll have a "BIG BOY".
 BW>> :) (I kn still not the same).
 BW> Not a problem for the Big Boys to work themselves through the
 BW> Wasatch.
 BW> They're nothing more than a pair of Northern-class engines tied to a
 BW> single frame, albeit with a pivot point under the front section of the
 BW> boiler for the first set of four drivers.
That's not the point as they were built for the Wasatch. It's the other 
places they *weren't* built for. And a doubled set of Northerns are stretched 
out far enough that the shorter radius curves make no difference. The 
coupling is very different than a Big Boy pivot point as the only 'engine' 
that really pivots on the BB is the front one.
 BW>> Think I've got that but I remember seeing the smaller engines of
 BW>> 'Frisco' pu 100+ cars when I was growing up beside the
 BW>> Springfield-Memphis mainline.
 BW> Recall that just west of the Cheyenne freight yard, the U.P.'s main
 BW> starts up a grade on its way to the summit of Sherman Hill, something
 BW> like 25 miles west of Cheyenne?  What the U.P. did with their large
 BW> engines was to stop for water some part of the way up Sherman, including
 BW> cutting off the lead engine on a two-engine "lead" at the front of
 BW> trains, and stop to allow any helper on the rear to water up, too.
 BW> Imagine the fun of having to spot two or three Challengers or Big Boys
 BW> under the water tank each and every trip over that hill!?  Not quite
 BW> like parking one's car at the gas station pump.
Well, for the most part, the trains were made up to use just one BB but it 
was not uncommon to find doubled BB's or with other power as helpers. I think 
the watering 'hole' was about 2/3rds up the hill, wasn't it?
 BW>> It is mentioned in several movies I have that "The BigBoy could pull
 BW>> a train miles long on level track". Would love to have seen that!
 BW>> And I believe that would be more than 100 cars, right?
 BW> Given something on the order of 4,000 horsepower in each of the Big
 BW> Boys, highly likely. Not too shabby for a museum piece! 
There's one at St. Louis I've been meaning to go see. I went to Omaha and was 
able to see 4023 at the shop area, using a visitors pass, to get inside the 
chain linked fence area. Now, it's sitting in Kinnifick(sp) park at the exit 
going to the airport. With it is a 6900 series Big D. Need to get up there 
again. Had a rented camcorder but the battery went down too fast with no 
spare. :(
Take care.
Bob
... Dan Quayle thinks that Cheerios are donut seeds.
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