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classictrains — Challenger
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Published: 2007-11-20 23:26:06 +0000 UTC; Views: 3081; Favourites: 80; Downloads: 81
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Seems like steam engines are popular... so here goes. UP Challenger (4-6-6-4) 3985 pulling out of the old C&NW coach yard in West Chicago, Illinois... crossing the J diamond headed east towards Chicago. June 15, 2002.There are 2 other photos of this same engine listed in my Journal. Those extra tenders come from UP's GE gas-turbines. Pix of #8 and #19 .
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Comments: 46
Nice shot. Up did have some odd power. And they always went for bigger and less.
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Several railroads had smaller articulateds similar in size to the Challenger and I thought it was note graceful and balanced than the Big Boy.
After the era of the U50 and Centennial they finally realized that big and unique power meant big and unique maintenance issues.
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Also if one locomotive went down the train was in serious trouble.
I am having trouble understanding your first statement.
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I don't think the Challenger was particularly "odd" and I think it was more graceful and balanced than the Big Boy. (Darn spell-check. I didn't mean "note.")
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Yeah. I heard one railroad had a steam locomotive slightly smaller then the big boy but with more pulling power. The 2-6-6-6 "Allegheny" Type Locomotives of the C&O.
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This thing is a beast, its brilliantly massive
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Rumor has it that it may be running again this summer... but in the Far West.
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No Opportunity to get a photograph then
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Nice shot. Nice work. I enjoyed your gallery very much.
Thanks,
Happy New Year!
David
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Thanks for stopping by. I have more to post but the house has been calling me... "Fix me... fix me!"
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How could I miss faving this beast for so long
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The biggest operating steam engine in the world.
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hmm never really was into trains myself... but dat is ausome... hi im mikey im from germany r u cris? r u from the us?
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Yes Mikey... I am Chris... are you going to fill in some of your personal details at your devArt home page?
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yes i am ... but havent got to it yet
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nice shot i like the challenger but nothing comes close to the BIG BOY. Its nice to see them using steam every now and then its a great change i always been a fan of steam.
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What an amazing hunk of machine. Definitely worth driving to see if it'll be out of Denver this summer.
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According to the director of regional public affairs for UP, rumor has it that they'll be busting this beast out during the summer for a few fan trips between Cheyenne, Denver, North Platte, and maybe Omaha and KC.
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that would be worth a few tanks of gas to see again!
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Thanks Judie. It was a bit of a challenge (LOL). This was actually my second attempt at correcting this shot.
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I think of all the train pictures, this is my favorite. There's just something about it that draws me to it.
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Ah, everyone's favorite challenger. Really great shot!
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my mouth hung open watching this train... I almost forgot to take pictures.. just watching the valve gear and rods churning out torque is an experience
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Be careful doing that, you'd get a mouthful of ash and soot 
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I think I'll keep this on my desktop for awhile
nice
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I'm glad you like it that much
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At lease the tenders from the Gas Turbine locomotives are being put to good use with the preserved steam locomotives.
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Makes me wonder this does.
The owners of L.N.E.R. A2 No 60532 "Blue Peter"
[link]
need at least £800,000 ($1,600,000) to overhaul her, and that's expensive. But I bet thats NOTHING compared to what it would cost to do this monster!
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And just imagine, after the group of what amounts to UP shop employees restored this to begin with, they began using it for fan trips, until ti needed a major boiler overhaul, probably shortly after this pic was taken.
It ran great after that, but I recall in 2006, they found a boiler leak, and after fixing it, they were breaking it in on a run between Denver and North Platte when it suffered a massive boiler failure.
Fortunately, it's still running again, and rumor (out of UP employees) suggest that it's going on another fan trip this summer around my area (I hope).
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I was thinking about this last night... the "price" of a repair like that can never be repaid... tickets barely pay for insurance for a run like this... the only reason one would put money into maintaining a marvelous piece of machinery like the 3985 or Blue Peter is love.
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How profound!
Very true though.
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i was cool to be there!
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Classic engine, of course. That sucker's in for the long haul with three tenders in tow...
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From what I remember when reading about the Big Blows, they got those tenders from retiring Big Boys. Incidentally, my grandfather worked for GE and was involved somehow with the development of the first Big Blows...the dual cab units that were completely self contained. The Gas Turbine units suffered severe loss of tractive effort as they burned off their fuel; so the UP guys retrofitted the Big Blows with the steam tenders to make their tractive effort more consistent and increase range. I'm not sure if the original under-frame fuel tanks were filled with concrete or simply removed. In the end, those tenders certainly went full circle, from Big Boys to Big Blows to Challenger 3985. That's quite a life.
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you know where those tenders came from? see [link] and [link]
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sad to see alot of those challangers leave service after only a few years of service.
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