So you didn't like the Bugatti??

[Trans_23]

How about a Challenger??

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[SpitXIV]

Thank you for the trip back in time, brings tears to my eyes seeing that train roll down the tracks. 65 miles an
hour is moving for a train that size. :salute:. My dads father worked for the railroad, so i got to ride in the
caboose. from cheyenne Wyo, to casper.

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

Awesome! Simply Awesome! Yes better than any Bugatti ever made.

-Ed-

[Dain Arns]

No music, just sound.
UP 844 highballing at 75 miles per hour.
Smooth as a marble on glass, too.

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[deKoven]

Hmmm, nowhere near the largest or fastest but both were good solid workhorses. Acknowledged largest ??

4-8-8-4 "Big Boy" Locomotive

That's 4 leading small wheels followed by 2 sets of 8 drivers followed by 4 small trailers. Wish ta gosh I could see one of THOSE rolling down the line again. Sadly, there are none left in working condition. The Big Boy was only good for the flat central plains area of the US, it's sheer size meant that trackage had to have curves gentle enough, large enough, to negotiate them.

and again I says for a bygone age.

[David_L6]

Great videos. I've never seen the 844. I took my kids on an excursion train ride pulled by the 3985 about 15 years ago.

[Cazzie]

You an' Dain tryin' to make a grown man cry now! God I miss locomotives.

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[brad kaste]

Does anyone know if the UP,...or other national railroads,....still run excursion steam trains anymore? I've been under the impression that the EPA and insurance companies have come down so hard on the steamers that it's not worth the cost and time for the railroads to run them anymore. Or I could be totally confused on this issue. Please clarify.

...And is it mandatory (now) that a diesel loco unit be attached right behind the steamer? And for what purpose?

[jhefner]

Does anyone know if the UP,...or other national railroads,....still run excursion steam trains anymore? I've been under the impression that the EPA and insurance companies have come down so hard on the steamers that it's not worth the cost and time for the railroads to run them anymore. Or I could be totally confused on this issue. Please clarify.

...And is it mandatory (now) that a diesel loco unit be attached right behind the steamer? And for what purpose?

Union Pacific still has steam specials behind 844 shown in the above video, and Challenger 3985. The general public is usually not allowed to ride; but Union Pacific informs the public of their trips; they even have a website and iphone app for tracking the steam train's movements:

http://www.uprr.com/newsinfo/media_k.../generic.shtml

And, no a diesel is not usually part of the consist; though one may sometimes lead it a protection power. "Protection power" means that it is there to assist in the event there is trouble with the steam locomotive. But once several years ago Steve Lee and the steam special came to the assistance of a freight train that had stalled on a pass. The steam locomotive shoved from behind and helped get the train moving; with it's excursion train still in tow.

Yes, most Class 1 railroads are hesitant to let steam locomotives not owned by them operate on their tracks. Part of it is insurance, but the main reason is that with fewer tracks nowdays to reroute trains on and higher usage; they cannot afford to have a steam excursion tie up their mainline with a breakdown. But, there are a tiny handful of exceptions out there.

-James

[wombat666]

Hey All,

Awesome! Simply Awesome! Yes better than any Bugatti ever made.

-Ed-

Excuse me Ed????????
Wash your mouth out right now!!
Impressive Locomotive just the same.
BTW, did you know that Bugatti actually built 'Railcars'?
IIRC he had a surplus of either the engines for the 'Royale' or one of his highly complicated aero projects so he built very swish Railcars to use them up.