BIG BOY

by AL FRANK

Big Boys---sometimes referred to as “Titans of the Wahsatch”, were the epitome of steam engineering skills and were built for pure economic reasons---the ability to pull more tonnage at more miles per hour. The steep climb east of Ogden, Utah, over the Wahsatch, presented a challenge to all of the Union Pacific equipment. Union Pacific, always looking for bigger and better pulling power, envisioned a locomotive the size of a Big Boy to do the pulling---and the Big Boy did.

The emphasis for more power to overcome the Wahsatch came under the administration of E.H.Harriman who had previously used motive power from various manufacturers using two and three helper engines as a standard practice. Under Harriman’s administration also came large steam power such as compound Mallets and later 4-10-2s, 4-12-2s, and finally in 1936, the famous articulated Challenger series 4-6-6-4s. With each new locomotive the railroad hoped to reduce or eliminate the need for helpers required for the sixty-five miles from Ogden to the Wahsatch which became known as the helper district.

Within a short period of time the design was forwarded to the American Locomotive Company, (Alco), in Schenectady, N.Y., who incorporated further design and construction details. From start to finish the project consumed only about one year which included six months of design, fabrication, acquisition of parts, and six months to erect the completed locomotive. There have been stories told of how one of the machinist’s chalk marks on the boiler of the 4000 when it was being built led to its name of Big Boy. There had also been rumors, but no documentation, that a possible considered name for this huge locomotive was to be Wahsatch but the press appeal of the newspapers had its impact and the name Big Boy stuck. The usual procedure for a railroad in acquiring new equipment would be to order a small quantity, sometimes only one. The Union Pacific felt so confident that they placed an order for twenty at one time knowing they would perform as designed. Keeping in mind they cost $265,174 each, they made some important calculations on how many would be needed to handle all of the freight and fresh fruit block shipments between Ogden and Green River plus allowing for down time and maintenance in their shops at any given time.

The first Big Boy, 4000, was turned over to the Delaware and Hudson and then the New York Central to Chicago. From there the Chicago and Northwestern carried the 4000 to Council Bluffs where a UP switcher made the short trip to the Omaha shops where it was officially accepted at 6 PM, September 5, 1941. It was then serviced completely, rods connected, fired up and run to the Omaha Union Station for a celebration. From there it was moved to the Council Bluffs terminal where it was serviced and then it began its trip west to Ogden, Utah. After its arrival in Ogden the big test was yet to come the next morning. How will it perform pulling a 3500 ton train up the Wahsatch? With Vice President Jabelmann in charge of the test, the first Big Boy took hold and belching smoke it surged up the grade causing the officials to be elated over the performance. In early 1941, before the first Big Boy was built, track clearances had been checked from Council Bluffs to Ogden, Utah, to accommodate the new “giant power” making some modifications necessary to the tracks including the rail weight and clearance distances between double tracks on curves. The modifications also included some revisions to the design of the locomotives such as reducing the widths of the running boards.

In 1943 Big Boys matched their strength, (horsepower), against a three unit diesel between Ogden and Evanston. Being steam locomotives are rated by a calculation determining “tractive effort” and not horsepower, the tests used a dynamometer car and the Big Boy easily equaled the diesel performance. The tests indicated the horsepower developed by the Big Boys averaged 5,937 horsepower. American Locomotive Company design statistics indicate the ability to develop 7,000 HP.