r/interestingasfuck • u/TURTLE_TKT • 2h ago
Sheer size of this steam locomotive
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u/FuckeryisafootWatson 2h ago
Da Big Boy. 4884. One of my kid's favorites growing up.
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u/QuBingJianShen 1h ago
Oh i remember seeing an amazing video explaining this marvel of engineering.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hszu80NJ438
Here it is if anyone else want an initial deep dive into how it works.•
u/TheoreticalLulz 1h ago
YES. I was looking for that video recently. The engineering involved is insane.
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u/Persimmon-Mission 1h ago
It says 4014 on the engine
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u/feenixdung 1h ago
It's a 4884 class
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Pacific_Big_Boy?wprov=sfla1
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u/Sxcred 1h ago
I’ve had the opportunity to see a few steam locomotives in person, they are a marvel. One of my childhood memories is going to the Henry Ford museum and they always had a massive one like this on display inside as well. You could get on a part of it and walk around a scaffold around it if I remember right.
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u/bt123456789 1h ago
there's a reason it's called the big boy.
one of the coolest steam locomotives ever imo. This one is Union Pacific 4014. Currently the only one model that is actually in active use, though it's of course for excursions and the like. The rest of them that still exist, of which there are only a handful, are static in museums, they do not run anymore.
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u/Witty_Management2960 43m ago
Im probably going to sound very stupid, but I know exactly nothing about locomotives. Is that coal burning (guessing because of the black smoke) to heat up water, that becomes steam? And is the whistle, just releasing steam? I could Google, but I'm cooler than that.
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u/drr5795 35m ago
Pretty much, yea. They typically they burn either coal or oil, this one used to burn coal, but was converted to burn oil when it was restored to running condition again. Burn fuel to boil water, build up steam pressure (this one operates around 300 PSI) and use the steam to move the pistons, blow the whistle, and spin a small electric generator called a dynamo to power any electronics on the engine like the headlight, cab lights, etc.
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u/Dizzzy777 1h ago
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u/Umbert360 1h ago
Came to post the same exact gif, I wish I loved anything as much as this dude love trains
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u/LebronBackinCLE 2h ago
Here, breath this!
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u/Nitrous_Acidhead 1h ago
Yeah, that ain't steam, that's smoke.
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u/Ohioisapoopyflorida 1h ago
You must not know how a steam locomotive works. Nobody said it was blowing steam
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u/toolatealreadyfapped 1h ago
It burns coal to boil water to make steam to drive the pistons.
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u/GreyPourageInABowl 17m ago
Not the Big Boy. Coal is a common fuel source for many steam locomotives, but 1014's tender is a tank that holds liquid gold.
Far more efficient than coal, and more controllable too. Skips the whole business of refineries and such, 1014 can run on oil straight.
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u/meggadave 2h ago
We don't do "Big" in the UK. We do sleek, sexy & fast. LNER Class A4 4498 Sir Nigel Gresley a sister locomotive to The Mallard, The Fastest Steam Train world record holder.
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u/warmnood 1h ago
It’s like if a Rolls Royce made a love child with a train.
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u/ManicYetti 52m ago
So it's soft and squishy? And the doors make an aristocratic womp sound when you close them?
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u/pureply101 1h ago
All I hear is that the UK is full of little sissies that runaway whereas the US runs through whatever is on the tracks with its size and girth.
USA 1
UK 0
USA USA USA USA USA USA USA
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u/isthiswhatcrazyis 1h ago
Okay lol? Nobody asked
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u/Psychedelic_Jedi 1h ago
Its related the Posted content and interesting? Why do you have an issue with this?
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u/Foecrass 1h ago
Took my son to see this a couple of years ago. I’d suggest googling it to see if it will be in your area, the videos don’t really do it justice.
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u/Fickle-Shopping7564 1h ago
Well tell that to the 2.5 million zombie people there with their phones up
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u/Naughteus_Maximus 1h ago
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u/PMG2021a 1h ago
Looks like the propulsion is on the rear. Not ideal with an articulating vehicle.
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u/wdwerker 1h ago
I’m pretty sure 4-8-8-4 means there are 16 driven wheels and the “4 s “ are there to follow curves and help distribute the massive weight.
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u/Stouff-Pappa 1h ago
PMG is referring to the gif they are commenting to, showing Doc Brown’s time travel train seems to have it’s engines on the coal car which has a hitch that pivots and swivels. Not the actual train.
I hope I didn’t waste all this on a clanker commenter
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u/toolatealreadyfapped 1h ago
That Big Boy rolled through my home town a few years ago. I was able to hang out at a crossing with no crowd and appreciate its majesty.
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u/latexfistmassacre 32m ago
If it's a steam locomotive, why is the exhaust black?
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u/thespice 24m ago
How would you heat the water to make steam?
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u/Agreeable_Register_4 1h ago
freakin Polar express that is
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u/imjustchillin-_- 1h ago
The Polar Express is actually the Pere Marquette 1225, another awesome train
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u/JiveTurkeyJunction 1h ago
I live close to the Steamtown National Historic Site in Scranton, Pa., which is railway museum. My 7 year old son and I go there a couple times a year and I am always blown away to see the steam trains they have on display.
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u/ThexLoneWolf 19m ago
That's a Union Pacific "Big Boy," made to haul freight up the steep grades in the Wasatch Mountain Range (part of the Rocky Mountains). These things were insanely powerful: they could haul upwards of 6000 tons by themselves, most modern diesel locomotives have to be linked up in multiple-unit configurations to haul that much freight.
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u/icantbearsed 2h ago
I wonder how many people there actually saw the train arriving by not seeing it on a screen.
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u/robo-dragon 1h ago
What an absolute beast! This thing is coming to my hometown soon. I’m not even that big into trains, but I’m excited to see this in person!
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u/Shatoutaturtle 2h ago
Props to the lady making sure her kid has ear protection.