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No video of it at speed? From:
ttat-members-owner@aoot.com [mailto:ttat-members-owner@aoot.com] On Behalf
Of Bill Lohman P. S. Wherever UP 844 stands on size and power, I can attest to
the fact that two years ago I was chasing her on the wide open interstate from
Cheyenne east toward North Platte Nebraska. There was no chance to keep
up with her and stay within the legal speed limit which is 80 mph in those
parts. She'll easily run over 100 mph for extended periods pulling a 12
car consist! Man, that was awesome. UP 844 doesn't just smoothly
roll. It rocks and rolls like a huge four legged animal. And the
firebox is belching flames at that speed. And there's almost zero smoke because
the crew has her trimmed out. We're talking serious dynamics in
play! No wonder they lube her main rods every 50 miles or so. And Lynn Nystrom, one of the 844 engineers told me she
understeers. On track this means when she goes around a curve the pilot
wheels tend to ride up the track and then drop back down producing a jerking
motion at high speeds in a curve. No seat belts. No air
bags. Rock and Roll! Bill
On Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 6:09 PM, Bill Lohman <844bill@gmail.com> wrote: I can't prove it but I think that when limiting the
discussion to the 4-8-4 "Northern Class" locomotives -- the Santa Fe
2900 series were the largest. Certainly they had much larger tenders than
the UP versions. As with so many comparisons, as you guys are discussing, it
depends on lots of factors. For example, the Northern Pacific Z5 Yellowstone 2-8-8-4 had
more tractive effort than the UP Big Boys but was a few feet shorter.
It's firebox was so massive, bigger than the Big Boy's firebox that before the
first Z5 was commissioned they had a dinner party for 16 notables in the fire
box!. (Great idea for a restraunt in Austin? Have a hot time at Austin's
newest restraunt, The Firebox!) But, one thing we know for sure about UP 844 is that it is
the one and only major class 1 locomotive in the US to be in continuous service
since it was placed on the roster when built. As many of you know, it's
number was briefly changed to 8444 when the 800 class diesels came to the
UP. But, 844 outlasted them and got it's number back!! Bill On Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 5:30 PM, <aadelman@austin.rr.com>
wrote: This webpage has a lot of that:
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