What is the largest locomotive in the United States?
The Union Pacific locomotive, known as Big Boy 4014, is the largest locomotive ever constructed. It just rolled in to Southern California after a massive restoration project.
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Twenty-five Big Boys were built exclusively for Union Pacific Railroad, the first of which was delivered in 1941. Of the eight remaining Big Boys in existence, No.4014 is the only one operating today. The Big Boys were about 133 feet long and weigh 1.2 million pounds.
Union Pacific reached out to EMD for more power, and the result was the behemoth EMD DDA40X. Often cited as both the largest and most powerful diesel-electric locomotive ever built, the 98-foot, 5-inch, 475,830-pound machine is staggering. The prime movers are a pair of EMD 16-645E3A diesels.
Of the eighteen built, three survive and are on display in Minnesota: No. 225 at Proctor, No. 227 at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum in Duluth and No. 229 at Two Harbors.
The Big Boys were built for power. They did the work of three smaller engines, pulling 120-car, 3800 ton freight trains at forty miles per hour in the mountains of Utah and Wyoming. With power, though, comes weight - larger cylinders, pistons, drive rods, boiler and firebox.
4014 restoration cost, but Wrinn estimated at least $4 million based on similar restorations. The result will be one of just six to eight steam engines still operational on mainline U.S. railroad tracks. “Living Legend” Northern No. 844 has remained in service since 1944.
Wyoming. The Big Boy locomotives weighed more than one million pounds and were 132 feet, 9 inches long. Stood on its end, one would be the equivalent of a 13-story building. Each one cost approximately $265,000 to build, or about $4.4 million in today's money.
In PTC territory the diesel is part of safety measures. Like any other mainline steam locomotive that was built to burn coal but after leaving the locomotive's assembly plant or during a restoration to operating condition had it converted to burn fuel oil.
The world's longest and heaviest train operated on June 21, 2001, between Newman and Port Headland in Western Australia. The train operated 170 miles (274 km) with 682 loaded iron ore cars.
Hydrogen-powered fuel cells, combined with batteries to store electricity, would be a zero-emissions solution to replace the diesel-electric locomotive, Moslener says.
Old diesel locomotives have been scrapped and auctioned in the past after they had completed their codal life and were found uneconomical to operate. These locomotives were dismantled and auctioned piecemeal.
Alco PA LocomotivesArguably the most beautiful diesel locomotive ever built, sadly no Alco PAs were originally preserved. Today, one is under restoration.
Power plant capacity is far greater than any individual locomotive uses, so electric locomotives can have a higher power output than diesel locomotives and they can produce even higher short-term surge power for fast acceleration.