Re: Rolling Locomotives

This is WAY of from the C&S 9, but when the UP wanted to move the Big Boy 4023 in downtown Omaha where I live, my dad and I went down with long neck oilers and oiled all of the boxes, and the tender axles quite thoroughly. Then my dad had me get up on a ladder and crank all four lubricators for about 10 minutes a piece. Sure enough...I saw oil start to ooz out of the line that feeds to the crosshead guides! Pretty cool!
The 4023 is, in my opinion (compared to the 8 remaining 4000's) in the best shape.
Actually, those of you who didn't know, the mayor and mayor's wife of Omaha in 1992 wanted to run the 4023 for River City round up one year, when the 844 wasn't going to be able to make it. The Challenger or the 844 show up annually for that and other event's. I see both of them alot. I'm in UP Country out here!
Anyway, they wanted to run 4023, but ended up not, because Steve Lee talked her out of it. Rightly so. It's WAY too big to run anywhere now except between Cheyenne and Laramie over Sherman Hill, and you can't turn it at Laramie without making major modifications to the wye. The 3985 can barely make it around that wye as it is.