Big Boys pull their weight
QUESTION Steam locomotives nicknamed Big Boys were operated by America’s Union Pacific railroad. Is it true they could pull loaded trains five miles in length?
There is no record of the longest train hauled by a Big Boy, but the record for the length of any train was set on June 21, 2001, in Western Australia, when eight Ge AC6000 diesel locomotives pulled 682 wagons carrying 100,000- tons gross weight of iron ore more than 200 miles between Newman and Port hedland.
Big Boy locos, introduced in 1941, were designed to haul heavy freight trains up inclines. Their ability to haul heavy freight at service speeds of 60mph made them valuable to Union Pacific, especially in meeting increased wartime demands.
The ALCO company in New York State made 25 locos. They were a 4-8-8-4 articulated design, with two sets of pistons and driving wheels hinged under a common boiler. each set had eight driving wheels.
This enabled them to negotiate sharp curves over the rocky and Appalachian mountains, and haul trains of more than 4,000 tons. With a top speed of 80mph on the flat, they used ½ tons of coal a mile.
They were replaced by diesels in 1959, which were less powerful but could operate coupled as multiple units. This meant they were more flexible and lighter, enabling them to be used across all of the Union Pacific system, unlike Big Boys.
Not all Big Boys were scrapped. Some were displayed in museums and in 2014 UP 4014 was restored to full running order. In 2019 it hauled a train across the South Western United States, to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the opening of the Transcontinental railroad.
Ron Rolph, Altrincham, Cheshire. The basic answer is no. The Big Boys, when first introduced, hauled about 65 cars weighing 3,500 tons. The aim was to speed up the trains and eliminate banking locos on the Wasatch range, Utah. Later, when the line was levelled out, the load could reach at least 6,000 tons.
The longest regular trains now are
QUESTION What are the strangest examples of animals stopping sports matches?
around 1.8 miles in length in Australia, Brazil and China, all hauling coal or iron ore. Such trains require locos to be ‘cut in’ part of the way down the train, often with a banker at the rear.
All operate on dedicated lines with despatch and reception yards designed to cope, as miles of train needing to be separated on arrival would block the main line for ages.
Bob Rich, Nottingham.
QUESTION We went to war with China over opium in the 19th century. What has happened to opium in modernday China?
ChINA fought and lost two wars over opium in the 19th century. After its defeat, China experienced an opium epidemic. By 1906, the country was producing 85 per cent of the world’s supply and over a quarter of its adult males used it.
After Japan’s defeat in World War II, the Chinese Civil War (1945-1949) broke out between Chiang Kai-Shek’s Nationalist government and Mao Tse-Tung’s Chinese Communist Party.
Opium consumption continued unabated, though the price soared due to disruption of production and supply.
When the Communists defeated the Nationalists, Mao ordered the prohibition of opium. The Communists razed poppy fields, opium dens were shut down, opium manufacturing facilities closed, drug traffickers summarily executed or imprisoned, and drug addicts sent to labour camps.
In less than three years the Communist government declared China drug-free.
Following China’s open-door policy and economic reform in the 1980s, illicit drugs quickly returned, mainly in the form of synthesised opium, i.e. heroin. There is still no cultivation of the opium poppy in China, all drugs are trafficked into China via Myanmar and through the Golden Triangle — an area between Thailand, Laos and Myanmar.
Officially, China has 2.5 million registered drug addicts (but probably many more). 1.3 million are heroin addicts. Crystal methamphetamine and ketamine are the top choices in synthetic drugs.
Tim Lee, Oxford. The qualifier for euro 2008 between Finland and Belgium at the helsinki Olympic Stadium on June 6, 2007, was held up by english referee Mike riley after an eagle owl perched on a cross bar.
It flew away after six minutes and play was resumed. Finland, managed by roy hodgson, went on to win 2-0.
The owl, nicknamed ‘Bubi’, was named helsinki Citizen of the Year by a Finnish sports journalists’ association in December 2007 as they felt he had done more to promote the national team than the team had. he was adopted as the mascot for the national team, who began calling themselves Huuhkajat (eagle Owls).
Ian Morrison, Alicante, Spain. I WAS a football referee at a league match between two local teams. As we waited for a corner kick to be taken, a woman and dog entered the field behind the far goal and began walking up the pitch.
When I explained we were playing a match, she said: ‘The dog and I have just as much right to be on this field as you and the players.’ I tried to reason with her, but to no avail, and 22 bemused players, referee, and spectators, had to wait while woman and dog slowly made their way from one end of the pitch to the other. After ten minutes they left the field through a gap in the hedge and the match was able to resume.
This was undoubtedly the strangest incident of my long refereeing career.
Colin Brown, Onchan, Isle of Man.
IS THERE a question to which you have always wanted to know the answer? Or do you know the answer to a question raised here? Send your questions and answers to: Charles Legge, Answers To Correspondents, Daily Mail, 2 Derry Street, London, W8 5TT. You can also email them to charles.legge@dailymail.co.uk. A selection will be published, but we are not able to enter into individual correspondence.