Big Boy 4017 cab interior: Attached are three cab interior photos of the 4-8-8-4 Big Boy #4017 at the Green Bay rail museum. It's hard for me to believe that any one person could have...

jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

Attached are three cab interior photos of the 4-8-8-4 Big Boy #4017 at the Green Bay rail museum. It's hard for me to believe that any one person could have possibly remember what all the valves and controls were for.

(Download)

DWU2 Loc: Phoenix Arizona area

jackm1943 wrote:

Attached are three cab interior photos of the 4-8-8-4 Big Boy #4017 at the Green Bay rail museum. It's hard for me to believe that any one person could have possibly remember what all the valves and controls were for.

Especially since almost nothing is labeled!

Jay Pat Loc: Round Rock, Texas, USA

The larger the locomotive, the more knobs!
I see two reversing bars. Guessing, one for each engine.
Pat

jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

Jay Pat wrote:

The larger the locomotive, the more knobs!
I see two reversing bars. Guessing, one for each engine.
Pat

I hadn't really thought about the need for two of them. So...technically the engine could have a tug of war with itself?

That would be something to see for sure.
Thanks, JackM

jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

DWU2 wrote:

Especially since almost nothing is labeled!

And no real signs there were ever any.
Thanks, JackM

RichardTaylor Loc: Sydney, Australia

Good set.

Jay Pat Loc: Round Rock, Texas, USA

jackm1943 wrote:

I hadn't really thought about the need for two of them. So...technically the engine could have a tug of war with itself?

That would be something to see for sure.
Thanks, JackM

I don't know for sure if that is what is going on.
Makes one think......
Pat

kenJN

There are two people in the cab, the engineer and the fireman, not just one; each controls one half of the knobs. Most locomotives have different shapes and sizes on the most important knobs so they can be found "by feel" in case the cab fills up with smoke and/or fog, which often happened, particularly in cold weather.

J-SPEIGHT Loc: Akron, Ohio

jackm1943 wrote:

Attached are three cab interior photos of the 4-8-8-4 Big Boy #4017 at the Green Bay rail museum. It's hard for me to believe that any one person could have possibly remember what all the valves and controls were for.

Nice set. Looks confusing.

jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

RichardTaylor wrote:

Good set.

Thanks for checking in Richard.
JackM

jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

kenJN wrote:

There are two people in the cab, the engineer and the fireman, not just one; each controls one half of the knobs. Most locomotives have different shapes and sizes on the most important knobs so they can be found "by feel" in case the cab fills up with smoke and/or fog, which often happened, particularly in cold weather.

Yes, and the engineer was likely a fireman at some point, so would probably have a good knowledge of the controls on both sides. Thanks for looking in Ken.
JackM

jackm1943 Loc: Omaha, Nebraska

J-SPEIGHT wrote:

Nice set. Looks confusing.

It certainly does. Thanks Jack.
JackM

DickC Loc: NE Washington state

A very nice group, thanks for sharing!!

Thorny Devil Loc: Alice Springs, Central Australia

kenJN wrote:

There are two people in the cab, the engineer and the fireman, not just one; each controls one half of the knobs. Most locomotives have different shapes and sizes on the most important knobs so they can be found "by feel" in case the cab fills up with smoke and/or fog, which often happened, particularly in cold weather.

That's interesting, I hadn't thought of loss of visibility in the cab but I do remember carriages filling up with smoke and steam if windows were left open as I passed through a couple of tunnels on my way to and from school in my younger days.

Thorny Devil Loc: Alice Springs, Central Australia

jackm1943 wrote:

Attached are three cab interior photos of the 4-8-8-4 Big Boy #4017 at the Green Bay rail museum. It's hard for me to believe that any one person could have possibly remember what all the valves and controls were for.

Great photos. It is good to see other views of these fascinating locomotives and your photos give a little insight into how these giants were managed.