Jay Leno meets Big Boy
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Wow. From a totally cold locomotive, if it's sat there for 6 months, to get it "fired up" and ready to roll takes...
...4 days.
The Big Boy was built to pull a string of cars - 5 miles long.
In the boiler, there are about 10,000 gallons of water. Our swimming pool at the cheddar shack was 25,000 gallons.
With the tender full of water, and 2 water cars behind the tender, it could only run 250 miles before it needed water.
600 tons, 7000 horsepower.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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That is one big train. Saw one in Bangkok earlier in teh summer but nowhere near the size of that one!!! Very cool!
https://nodebb.the-new-coffee-room.club/topic/16185/train-porn/10?_=1727801364913
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We used to build stuff...
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@George-K said in Jay Leno meets Big Boy:
7000 horsepower.
@Jolly said:
We used to build stuff...
For the sake of comparison, General Electric's P42s, the locomotive that was the backbone of Amtrak, produces 4200 hp. Keep in mind that Big Boy is really two steam locomotives on one frame. So the power isn't all that impressive.
However, the difference comes in other areas. Passenger locomotives have different requirements - better acceleration, the need to provide HEP (Head-end-power for electricity throughout the train), etc. They can travel at higher speeds (I think the P42 is rated up to 120mph).
Freight locomotives are all about tractive effort - the ability to pull a long string of cars - because they are heavier and have more axles. Their braking systems are also different.
Also, with regard to steam, you have to stop every now and then and replenish water and coal/oil. P42 has a range of 500-700 miles.
As a side note:
We used to build stuff...
Amtrak is phasing out the P42s which are now about 30 years old. The replacement is built by Siemens.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
