What's inside the BIG BOY? Let's find out!

Really great working with you on this sir. Hope we can make more content together in the future. Thanks also to the Forney museum for letting us pull our foamy shenanigans!

Today: Birb man opens 4005's smokebox and climbs inside to look at sadness

seeing you in front of the boiler makes me really realize how big this thing really is

they last opened the front door about a decade ago when UP was looking at all of the remaining Big Boys. hearing all the crap fall when it was opened and how you said it was a tired choo choo are probably the reasons why 4005 was not chosen to return to steam.

Today we unbox a Wasatch class locomotive and we find steel, gunk, a man, and a bird. Also Hyce, 4005 may have a large boiler, but I used to do some volunteer work for battleship Texas and her boilers make a big boys boiler small

Hyce and Friend: Why won't this thing open? 4005, eyeing that last lug. Guys? GUYS! I wonder how much of the damage and wear you saw came from her 1953 derailment. They still needed her, so they fixed her enough so she could work, but didn't sink too much time and effort into her because well, diesels were happening. Poor girl's had it rough; glad that she has a nice cushy home now.

wow there are still OG ashes in the (enormous) smokebox. Carl could get lost in there and never find his way out. 1.3x million hard miles on an engine that was built late in the steam era and didn't have time to see a fifty year service life. Boggles the mind. Thank you for sharing this very cool look at 4005. So glad she's preserved! Choochoos don't need to run to be beautiful artifacts presenting their history.

That volunteer is a great friend I got to be inside of 4005 which was supremely cool

When I was in Denver back in June, I made sure to drop by Forney to see the 4005- got to stand on the deck on the cab to look in through the gate at the control surfaces, as well as inside the tender with the auger used to pull the coal into the firebox. Also got to see Aunt Peachy the Crane. As far as for the ill-repair, that looks about right for the last few years of the Big Boys operations in the late 50s, based on what I know; I'm willing to bet Ed Dickens and his team likely faced something similar when they got 4014 to Cheyenne, the most appropriate place to re-service the same engine as it was decades ago.

This vid was great! As a kid I climbed all over the 4017 in Green Bay when they brought her in. My brother and Grandfather took 2 days to get it fired just to roll a rail after moving 3 feet. And just standing on that half acre front deck will change one's entire perspective on the size of the loco. Thanks to both of you for doing this.

Best time to be gifted a membership, this community is so awesome

now that you have worked on a big boy go ask Ed if you can help

Glad you got to visit a Big Boy! :D Also, PLEASE visit one of the last two Alleghenies.

This is so cool!!! The size and scale of the Big Boy is awe inspiring. Something that most of us will never get to see, thanks for bringing us along and teaching us about the big Choo Choo. Somehow I don’t think this will be your only experience with a big boy though. 😎

It never fails to amaze me how large the Big Boy actually is

The whole time you guys were trying to knock the door open I was worried someone was gonna hit that bell (either with the wrench or their head) lmao, glad I was wrong lol! And yes, that deck could host a whole party!

Today we learn: 1. How to access the backs of the builder's plates on a Big Boy. 2. Videos, pictures & numbers don't do the sheer size of these machines justice.

So Mark now you should put your application in for Union Pacific with their steam program. And you can work on the big boy full time now. 😅

Wow, this video makes you appreciate the size of everything on the Big Boy. I just returned home from a ride on a narrow gauge tourist railway near me and the 2 axle diesel pulling our train would fit on the front deck with its wheelbase.

This makes me want to volunteer even more at the local train museum. They have 4017 and it would be great awesome to help preserve it. Now I just have to find time.