TRAIN EXPERT reacts & adds to the EXCELLENT Animagraffs Big Boy!

@animagraffs recently put out a video showing off how the Big Boy works! He actually asked me to consult on it, so I did! The video is excellent, but I wanted to provide a deep-dive looking into some of the many systems for the nerds out there.
Watch the original here: • How a Steam Locomotive...
Merch: hyce.creator-spring.com/
Join my discord: / discord
Become an ES&D Train Crew Member and get extra perks!
/ @hyce777

[@animagraffs]

This is a joy to watch, because I spent 2 months deep into the research and modeling, thirsting for answers like these. Again, a real pleasure to work with you Hyce. Also, your comments section is very gentle in pointing out the high level quirks of my work -- things that of course laypeople won't see but what an expert could hardly miss. I love that stuff, even if it comes as a critique in the end. But getting the details from those in the know will always be a thrill for me, with every subject I tackle! :D - Jake

[@Hyce777]

Know that all of us train people are, absolutely impressed, and we're just a bunch of - *very* detail oriented picky people. :D Everyone I know learned several things from your original video, and I know a lot of highly educated train people. Still blown away by the quality of your work, and I look forward to the next one!

[@alexlowe2054]

I really appreciated your video, but this hour long deep-dive into the details really helped me understand how much work and care went into the animations and the research. From all the train lovers out here, thank you both for the hard work you've done!

[@railwayjade]

Jake, fantastic job!

[@shanemelman1596]

Thank you for the great animation Jake.

[@joshwelbaum]

I have sent this video to so many people. It is awesome. Now I need to know even more about steam... I have so many books on order now i am going to need a new bookshelf.

[@davidwhiting1761]

I watched the original video and thought "Man, this is super detailed. Hyce should see this!" and then his name showed up in the credits. And now he's reacting to it. This story arc is now complete.

[@Nareimooncatt]

I thought the same, but didn't catch the credits. That was awesome to find out Hyce provided all that input, and this video just flew by. An hour and twenty minutes felt like just twenty.

[@KergylKraft]

I thought the exact same thing.

[@km077]

damn right! He really shou... oh, wait.

[@magicarmyman]

remember kids, the big choo choo doesn't like it when you park on the tracks to feed it metal. it makes the big choo choo sick.

[@kreimakesmusic]

big choo choo doesn't tolerate metal parked on the crosing

[@A.a.s.t.o.r.the.radio.demon.]

big choo choo is allergic to vehicles

[@BentendoGameBoy]

You'll make Mr. Ed upset

[@valvegearstudios]

Sad big Choo choo

[@datguymiller]

Should have told that to the drunk that left his car on the track and delayed the Summerville Steam Special

[@andrewframe8046]

The way I like to explain cut-off to non-train people is that it's like pushing a kid on a swing. You're going to use bigger, longer pushes to get the kid going. Once they've got some height and speed going, your pushes are going to reduce in force and length. What was a long push of a few steps forward quickly becomes a light touch on their back as they go by to keep them going.

[@Hyce777]

That's a great way to explain it. Cheers my friend!

[@Dan_McCann]

You already got the stamp of approval from an expert (Hyce), but I want to add my stamp of approval as someone who didn't previously completely understand. I almost had it, but your analogy really clicked it in place for me.

[@MidwestSirenProductions]

2:48 as an engineer that uses CAD software on the daily, I can confirm this is a big issue. I can’t tell you the number of times I load or modify high piece count assemblies just for random parts or subassemblies to either disappear or lose a reference. I can’t even imagine how much of a headache it was to make everything look as good as it did here! Also after watching the Animagraffs video for the first time I thought this would be right up your alley, just to see you credited at the end! Great video Hyce!

[@PvtHaggard]

Or you spend hours rendering a scene without realising you had a small model hidden.

[@RomboutVersluijs]

I bumped into his video last night. But i found his "Making of" first, have you seen that?

[@Bryanja81]

I think what most amazes me about Big Boy is the amount of engineering that went into it, in a time without computers or calculators etc... Truly an amazing generation and skills lost to us.

[@GP30_Foamer]

It’s really incredible that he went into such excruciating detail to make even the most complicated things about steam seem simple. Throughout the entire video, I was just constantly thinking “Oh that’s how that thing works!”

[@vega1287]

24:13 i allways wondered why the pivot was there but now that you say it, it seems obvious the pivot is at the middle so the expanding boiler won't try to open it's own throttle

[@Cactusfruitsquisher]

Wouldn’t be a fun time lol

[@Cactusfruitsquisher]

Or it’d be an incredibly fun time depending on how you woke up that morning 😂

[@TrotFoxGreyfoot]

Came here to say that! Pivot is how you keep the front-end throttle from putting your engine in the turntable pit.

[@starlight6701]

I think it would be cool for you to go over what they got right/wrong in the Polar Express or Back to the Future III in terms of the engine scenes!

[@nicklehne7486]

Legit watched that video and thought, "I wonder what Hyce would think of this?"

[@cyclone9946]

I thought the exact same thing.

[@ZacharyChristy-Aronson-wg5ki]

Same.

[@19LG99]

same lol

[@whitelightinggaming3737]

Same

[@KPen3750]

That sight glass offset is also prevalent on Marine boilers, obviously when you hit rough weather that water column changes drastically. For example on USS New Jersey, theres 1 sight class on the boilers that is I think a 12 inch sweep, 6 inches either direction, and another which is double that, 12 inches either direction to ensure you have enough water when the ship starts doing the rocking and rolling over waves. The boilers aren't as long, but over a 15-20 foot wave, still need sight of that water

[@nicsnook1311]

Hmmm, I missed that detail when I visited, I’ll have to look when I go back sometime.

[@KPen3750]

@@nicsnook1311 it might not be that big of a sweep since it has been a while myself but trust me they have some big sight glasses

[@darylmorning]

I actually just visited 4017 at the National Railroad Museum a few months ago. All I could think is an understated "Wow!"

[@rogerletsom2127]

As a "die-hard" steam fan, this is the best steam locomotive animation I've seen. I was really impressed with the amount of internal detail. My engineer's cap is off to you both!

[@Wileyone8Games]

No joke, just finished watching the bigboy video

[@emilpersson8250]

On some older Swedish locomotives the pressure gauge for the boiler is connected to the turret. Great for when you have to shut if the turret due to a leaking valve.

[@edwinsinclair9853]

I believe that Ed Dickens changed the blowdown separator arrangement on both the 844 and the 4014 to a more or less continual blowdown arrangement. In regular service, the sludge was usually deposited on the top of the boiler ahead of the cab and turret which was why you see all the white deposits on the boiler in that area.

[@joshuadupay1285]

I noticed the offset wheels and missing crank pins in the video when I watched it, but the model is just so darn complex and impressive I completely understand how he missed that when animating and didn’t want to say anything 😂

[@synth6754]

the disappearing axles could just be blender weirdness where upon rendering the animations the axles were all snapped back to the position of the #3 driver on the wheelsets, usually caused by things like not applying the location of something or forgetting to bind them to the correct bones, though it's still a nice animation without the axles edit: also the running gear not being clocked to the axles is probably mirror modifier weirdness, i've had this happen to me before

[@synth6754]

in addition the crankpins are all one model and that base model before the animation stuff happens to it (edit) appears to have been rotated 45 degrees, giving the crank pins the wrong location (again, blender weirdness)

[@smallgamesplays4958]

7:13 i remember watching you and someone else on derail valley racing the S060. This reminded me of that moment where you just kept saying "dumping the coal, dumping the coal, dumping the coal!" Love your videos.

[@shanemelman1596]

Thank you to yourself and Jake for the animation. When you have the visuals you get a better understanding of how things work. Now knowing that the two of you have worked together on this makes sense as to why it was done so well.

[@fabiansawilla7911]

38:24 that's not always true. There are articulated engines where both driver sets pivot: Not only your much loved double fairlies but also Meyer-locomotives like the German saxony IV K

[@Hyce777]

Well; those are not the traditional type of articulated we're seeing here, but I get and agree with your point.

[@modelrailwaybackshop]

The Stoker is, in fact, off set like the wheels. I even have the stoker sound in my Brass model of NP #2601.

[@Hyce777]

That makes more sense! Thank you my friend.

[@DaysofKnight]

Jake. From StateFarm. On a more serious note: Great video, both his and yours. I watched his first just to learn about steam engines, and specifically the Big Boy. It was great and super informative. Wasn't obnoxious or too in your face with music or anything. It was calm and easy to watch. And to see everything inside that massive engine was great, to learn about all of it. And then to see you uploaded a video about it in response? Was no question about clicking this video, hour long or not. Great video from both of you

[@skivvy3565]

No wonder tv has become obsolete with you two doing projects like this. Keep it up. Just wow. Loved both these videos

[@patricksheary2219]

Mark words can’t describe how much joy it brought to watch this. I’m blown away by the detail of Jake’s animation. I can’t even imagine the time and talent it took to create this! But then to have the Professor give expert advise on the engineering details of Big Boy just blew off the safety valves! 😂 Thanks Professor for sharing with us your commentary, I learn so much when you nerd out. It’s so about the details isn’t it! Also many kudos and thanks to expert animator and videographer Jake for doing this ultra-fab video. What a great paired moment, cheers to you both!

[@ernestyeagley512]

A retired locomotive engineer here. The creator says "...a five mile train." It is important to point out that a "5 mile train" would theoretically be a 2 to a 2 1/2 mile long train today tonnage-wise speaking. When Big Boy was in service, freight car capacity (CAPY) was only at the maximum, half the tonnage weight/car as it is today. Today 100 tons/car or a little better are in service. Big Boy's time: up to 50 tons/car. Yes "5 mile train" does sound impressive in the narrative, but really it is misleading compared to today's standards. Unfortunately the creator of this model didn't point this out. However excellent graphics, and Hyce, hats off to you for keeping history alive from an engineering point of view on these beloved machines.

[@azurepony9972]

@hyce the grates really are that big the are photos of people standing inside the firebox on the grates, really gives you an idea of how big the firebox is.

[@Hyce777]

Good christ. Must've been a pain in the rear to change one.

[@DanielDuhon]

I’ve seen the big boy up close and watched it “drive” by and got to hear the whistle too and it was fantastic

[@brycerash6606]

I'm so ecstatic that one of the last running Big Boys is stored for a lot of the time here in my home town of Cheyenne, WY. Being able to see it every year is awesome to see such a piece of History

[@hughbrown1531]

I usually have the attention span of a gnat and watch 10-15 minute videos, but the original and this reaction have me sitting hooked watching back to back. This is truly Nat Geo level documentary stuff.

[@badcornflakes6374]

ADHD

[@mattg5852]

That’s pretty nice. It helped me visualize better information that you have shared on here sir. My hats off to his work on making the model as well as he did. And my hats off to you hyce for your help to him. Along with sharing your passion of teaching us about these complicated marvels of engineering from a perceived simpler time.

[@curtismatthias1619]

Last weekend I was just watching that big boy video and then a few days later Hyce makes a video about the exact video i watched 😂😂 what are the chances of that happening😂😂

[@catfish552]

Loved watching both the original video and this commentary. I think it's a great companion to your Steam 101, the 3D models and animation really help with some things that can be a little hard to wrap your head around, like the arrangement of boiler/firebox/stay bolts. Also really cool to see Big Boy-specific things, like the split ashpan, or the steam pipes for the front engine. Like, I could imagine there have to be joints in there to allow for movement, but it's even more complex than I imagined!

[@osageorangegaming5128]

Thanks for covering- and contributing to- Jake's work, Hyce! It was awesome to see your name in the credits, and having your thoughts and explanations on what was- or wasn't covered really helped. On one of the Big Boy documentaries I got (haven't seen it in awhile) I remember one of the old Big Boy firemen describing an engineer (don't remember his name) running his Big Boy locomotive hard enough, fuel wise, that they'd have to stop and pick up old rail ties from trackside and the fireman and head-end breakman would be tossing in the ties like crazy to keep the engine running to get to their destination. It was also said that this engineer's little "scheme" would use up all the old ties of this part of the UP system by the time the Big Boys were finally retired.

[@Gunny426HemiPlymouth]

Enjoyed the heck out of each video. Didn't even realize you had a hand in his video. Then I saw this and was amazed. Awesome production

[@whisper9539]

Close to 100k congrats

[@WasatchWind]

Yeah I noticed as well. It's well deserved.

[@largefather03]

I'm so glad that you explained 'lead.' I knew OF it, but i didn’t know what it was called. Very informative.

[@murob2347]

Where the steam is narrowed to increase the velocity, and therefore create a vacuum, is just like a modern carburetor when it creates a vacuum to take up the fuel.

[@Trainfan1055Janathan]

I've always wondered why steam locomotives makes chuffing sounds while stationary. I'm guessing that's the air compressor.

[@Hyce777]

Correct! The compressor exhausts are usually run through the cylinder saddle and through the blast nozzles, so they sound a lot like a chuff.

[@orchidhouse297]

Ah hour and a half (including youtube adverts) of pure nerd. I watched the original by animagraffs and was in awe. Now you have cleared up things that I didn't understand and filled in some fascinating details. Massive appreciation to both of you guys. Thanks.

[@firewolf2079]

I actually watched the animation yesterday. It was insane to see how it works and the stuff I learned is amazing

[@TheWhiteOwl23]

This is the coolest thing I have ever listened to, you are like the Lindybeige of Steam locomotives. I just love how much cool info you have to add to any little part.

[@TrotFoxGreyfoot]

Nerdly notes.... That 4-4-0 model looks a lot like the AMT The General model so many of us built when younger. I wonder if he created it from that. The butterfly doors don't operate the manual lever when running on the air pedal. I've enjoyed cab-rides in at least two (I'm pretty sure that makes me an expert! XD) that had those and the motions are separate. If I remember correctly, they each have a pin that pushes the door mech open but isn't pulled with it. You can also open them partially with a seperate latch-point on the manual lever that doesn't stop the cylinder from opening them the rest of the way. You can see the lever and pin from the manual lever in the animation (right side of right door pivot,) you can see the pin only for the air cylinder as well (left side of left door pivot, behind the ghosts.)

[@RandomGaijin]

In the navy we used simpler versions of the esi to operate pumps to evacuate water from our bilges, and to pull vacuums on our water purifiers.

[@nomar5spaulding]

The baffles in the tender was another thing I found pretty insteresting from a maritime/truck driver background. I used to drive tanker trucks with way less liquid in them than that tender (7500 to 8000 gallon tankers) and our tanker trailers with 2 compartment trailers with a length of 45 feet total, but since it was food grade tanks, there was no baffling in the tanks and the surge effect was pretty intense. In ships, free surface effect in a partially filled tank is a huge potential reduction in stability, so tanks were almost always baffled to at least some extent, but we would try to keep a tank either completely full or completely empty whenever possible to reduce free surface effect. I never even considered how important that sort of thing would be for a locomotive tender, but it's completely logical that the tank would be baffled to at least some degree.

[@QuorkQTar]

What an amazing work. I really enjoyed watching it.

[@DavidVerch]

It is amazing how much a boiler will grow from thermal expansion. On a combined cycle I worked at there was one section of evaporator that was bound and could not grow down. It bowed all the tubes out on the lower section. When we went in to inspect we were like this is straight and this is bent. There was a baffle that was hitting part of the casing and preventing the growth.

[@longrider42]

I live in the city where the 4014 Big Boy was restored ;) I've been all over it. The Big Boy steam locomotives, where the Biggest ever made.

[@WickedMuis]

37:00 I was wondering this myself when playing simulators: I thought the reason that 'full reverser' to be less effective at high speeds was because a larger cut-off/opening with every stroke would give more pushing power, but had less velocity to it, and so would have more trouble 'keeping up' with the piston's speed to be able to keep pushing the piston when the piston was moving fast (the fluid dynamics, smaller nozzle higher speed etc). So it's fascinating to learn that it's more about the 'overhead', the extra steam that gets spent NOT pushing the piston, that makes it less efficient at higher speeds, and thus better capable at reaching even higher speeds when closer to the center. Also nice to learn that using the reverser as a brake is a valid tactic. Since there's no such thing as damage/strain in a sim it would be fine using it in a sim, but I thought that in the real world it would put extra strain and so extra wear on the pistons and rods and so would be better to use the train/independent brake rather. Love all the comentary you're adding here :D

[@Studio23Media]

I can't imagine the hours of work that went into this model! I watched the video the other day and noticed Hyce in the credits.

[@KanjiasDev]

Yeah, I've seen that video already and it was really awesome. Great to know that you were a part of it :)

[@ThZuao]

UP's heritage fleet manager Ed Dickens says that coal was indeed crushed by Big Boj's archimedes screw from the Tender. But it makes sense for it to carry coal that has been already crushed, for the reasons you pointed out + because you can carry more of it. Not just in the tender, also in everything from the mines to where coal was needed. Perhaps UP did not bother with buying a few crushers for their autostoker fleet because they still used lumpy coal?

[@Hyce777]

Ed would know for sure! That's cool. Thanks for letting me know. :)

[@SignalLightProductions]

Great walk through of a great video! You are correct about the butterfly doors and the handle vs pedal. As for the stoker, I believe that style is slightly more modern than the ones with vertical screws. Southern 4501 is the only stoker engine I've gotten to play with since NNRY 81 had hers removed. Stoker coal from my experience is usually about the size of an apricot and I agree that the auger isn't specifically designed to crush it, however a lot of crushing does happen in all that movement. Riding behind any stoker fired engine will result in a lot of cinders in your hair and eyes because those fines (like slack) often go out the stack before they can burn.

[@sebastianschroeder6459]

After watching this video, I must say Hyce HAS to be a missionaries for the steam age. This video, I believe with his voice over makes my understanding of steam even stronger from what it was before, thank you Jake, and Hyce.

[@matthewsmith5104]

21:50 A comment about steam drying prior to superheat. The steam contains no solids, but the water droplets do. By de-watering/drying the steam at this point, any dissolved contaminants can be returned to the boiler water and managed via the normal blowdown process. Water droplets that enter the superheater tubes will evaporate and impart their dissolved solids as a solid scale on the inside of the tubes that will be extremely difficult to remove, and will eventually cause the tubes to overheat and fail as the scale will inhibit heat transfer, requiring higher and higher metal temperatures to overcome the insulating effect the scale has. I'm not a railroad guy, but I have experience with stationary boilers as a process engineer in the chemical process industry, and the parallels here are super interesting to me.

[@gcorriveau6864]

I love your analysis and additions of the tech details. As a retired airline pilot I also love his Animagraffs of airliners and aviation topics but also notice places where generalizations better serve the needs of the viewers and Jake's educational aims.

[@louisrobitaille5810]

7:03 It's great to see experts realize their "mistakes", they always make a funny face and ramble the explanation to themselves 😂. It's also great when this kind of mistake happens before a project is finalized so it can be fixed 😅. (In this case the final product wasn't too dependant on the details so it doesn't matter 🤷‍♂️.)

[@jeffreyoliver4735]

Awesome job explaining partner these monsters were incredible.

[@AgentWest]

Reason why I personally did not "get" the steam injector before is that most explanations completely miss that final part where steam expands back to the original volume. So while getting the venturi portions, at the end it was like "and then what?" And now i kind of want to CNC a flat cutaway model just for the fun of it. Gonna add that to the ever-growing list of "some day" projects lol

[@JoshKilen]

great colab video. enjoyed both videos.

[@quakxy_dukx]

I absolutely love Jake’s work.

[@travisworts6249]

35:27 I can't imagine big boys wheels falling off. 80 inch drivers rampaging through the country side.

[@ChrisCaramia]

(68" drivers; still terrifying.)

[@vincentfalcone8802]

big boy was only ever driven forward, turntable or loop at either end, but theres only photo and video available of it travelling forward, so its as easy assumption to make. and my God can you hear those 4 barrel carbs working its fantastic. i believe it was 4014

[@Mr.Rogers143]

Hyce, Hey buddy! @45:47 I think I have the basic idea of how these air pumps work. I've linked a couple of sites below that have a diagram of the internal working of the pump. What helped my understanding was finding plans years ago for a cross compound pump for a 7-1/4" scale live steam loco (choo choo). Live steam models have been helpful in my learning because their mechanisms are simplified due to their smaller scale. I'll try my best to describe how a single lung Westinghouse air compressor works. * So the steam cylinder and the air cylinder have their own pistons that share the same piston rod. * At the top of the pump (the steam side), you will notice a horizontal valve chamber, and a smaller vertical valve chamber. * The smaller vertical valve chamber has a slide valve inside. This valve goes up and down. (let's call this the kicker valve) * The big horizontal valve chamber has a piston valve.... BUT.... it also has a slide valve that is connected between the two pistons of the piston valve. The slide valve part is attached to the piston rod that makes up the piston valve. This valve goes side to side. (Let's call this the shuttle valve). * Okay... So the kicker valve's position is controlled by a rod that extends down into the steam cylinder of the pump. As the steam side piston reaches the end of it's stroke, it pushes up or pulls down the kicker valve. * The kicker valve's job is to control the side to side position of the shuttle valve. * The shuttle valve's job is to direct steam to either the top or bottom of the steam cylinder. * The slide valve part of the shuttle valve is what actually directs steam to the top or bottom of the steam cylinder, while the piston valve part of the shuttle is what causes the entire shuttle valve to slide side to side (remember, it's position is controlled by the kicker valve). I think that's fairly accurate. The cross compound pumps are very similar to the single accept it's shuttle valve is composed of a piston valve on steroids that look like this... I--I--I--I--I Also, some U.K. choo choos have steam driven air compressors that look similar to the one's we see in the U.S., but they have to vertical valve chambers on top (basically works the same way). Single cylinder Westinghouse air compressor dlm-ag.ch/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Mockup.jpg Cross compound Westinghouse air compressor www.newenglandsteam.org/news/2019/5/1/cross-compound-pump-conclusion

[@Dan_Gyros]

Awesome stuff! Thats so freakin cool!

[@C.I...]

"Master mechanic's front end" is a lot less descriptive than the UK term "Self-cleaning smokebox"

[@Hyce777]

That's fair; our name comes from where it came from, which is less descriptive for sure.

[@C.I...]

I thought it was interesting, since in the non-steam world (there must be one, I've heard of it!) it's usually the other way around for terms differing across the pond. I had to rewind to see if that was indeed what you were talking about!

[@adamrosenhamer3762]

It was a really good video lol. Was hoping you'd do a video on it!

[@esesel7831]

You mentioned that engineers would use just the train brakes to slow down when going downhill, did these trains have a valve that would facilitate that? Here in Austria we have something called "Nachbremsventil" (roughly late-braking-valve) that allows the loco to brake only when the brake line pressure is lowered below 3.5 bar. It's mostly used to reduce wear on the locos wheels, since they are more expensive to replace than those of the wagons.

[@Hyce777]

Some roads had valves to cut out only the driver brakes - notably the D&RGW. Both of our D&RGW steam engines have that feature at the museum (and it's very convenient to use). RGS 20 has... a hacky pipe work around that prevents the drivers from setting up when the automatic sets up. But otherwise, you have to hold the independent "bailed", and you can prevent both the engine and tender from setting up.

[@andrewreynolds4949]

I have never understood how a crosshead compound compressor works before. This is fantastic.

[@tonymcdonald2932]

I just watched the oroginal video yesterday! What a coinky-dink!

[@tristanperina1557]

Same.

[@DavidVerch]

Also if you look at the steam tables you will see that more of the enthalpy comes from the temperature component that the pressure component. So in utility scale boilers the reheat has more enthalpy than the superheat.

[@Wandering_4ever]

I learn something new with every video you post ....

[@OfficialDenverRioGrandeWestern]

Hollywood old west locomotives : a 4-4-0 The real old west locomotive DRGW 346

[@itpony]

Thank you for this awesome reaction that enhanced the original video so much...

[@srajfnly2]

I would love to see you and @animagraffs do 101 videos together

[@nomar5spaulding]

I'm at the 6:46 mark and I just want to say that bit about the blast nozzles (in the main animation) I found to be very interesting. I'm not a huge train guy, but I have a background in the maritime industry and have some rudimentary training (and I mean rudimentary) on how marine steam plants work, and I'm very interested in naval history and warship design, so it's not all foreign to me. The arrangements of things are completely different and whatnot, but overall, the basic parts are close enough. Anyway, the thing about the blast nozzels that I thought was cool. I thought it was pretty cool that they're taking the exhaust steam, which will still have some energy in it, and needs to be exhausted anyway, and instead of just piping it out, they blow it through the stack to help create a good draft for the fire. It was also interesting to see that the stacks themselves are venturi tubes to generate more draft. That's very clever and super cool. It's a good way of using energy you already have, but weren't using to do useful work, instead of tapping power off the locomotive somewhere else to run forced draft fans. Go train people!

[@manowaari]

Big Boy is great engine and that boiler power is awesome. It can generate more steam that engine can use in every situation. Many big locomotives have barely big enough boiler, so there might be situations you have to slow down or even stop, and boil more steam to continue.

[@NicoDiguido]

Ah Animagraffs’ videos are very fun to watch!

[@fishis14]

HA! I thought the same thing about one of his airplane videos, he didn't get quite as nerdy as I would have hoped

[@thomasdecker7631]

Very nice. A couple of questions: First, it's my understanding that, as boilers grew longer (early articulated locomotives), expansion/contraction of the boiler caused a problem with "night walking" due to the throttle valve being lifted off its seat as the boiler cooled. Was the front end throttle with its crank linkage developed to cure this problem? Second, it's been my understanding that Baker valve gear was functionally similar to Walschearts, but more readily renewable due to extensive use of pins and bushings?

[@ColtonRMagby]

I saw this, and I was impressed with how much I learned.

[@stanfischer6175]

I didn't notice the drivers out of time but I did see that on the stoker motor being set at " 0-180" instead of "0-270". I have always questioned a Big Boy being able to start a 5 mile long train. None the less its a great video! I'm 70 and was studying pictures of locomotives before I could read. Felt I knew pretty much everything in the video except I never heard of the tubo-fan in the dome that separated water droplets from the steam. My non'foamer friends stood in awe when #4014 came to town.........

[@michaelimbesi2314]

On level ground, it can start any train for which the force it puts down exceeds the frictional resistance of the cars. F=ma. As long as it has some net force, it’ll start the train. It just might start the train very, very slowly.

[@justingt2010]

It's wild because I tend to boilers in the navy, and it's so different but yet very similar. Obviously, no coal as we use fuel oil, but almost the same working principle. I would love to operate an old coal fired boiler

[@DavidVerch]

Can any one confirm this: The municipality where I live uses potato starch as a coagulant to aid in precipitating hardness from the water. I met one of the people that came up with this process and he said that they would dump potatoes in early boilers to help precipitate out hardness. Have not had any one confirm this was done, though have had people in the utility boiler business tell me it sounds reasonable for the 1800s.

[@pranavghantasala6808]

This might just be the best reaction video on youtube, just for sheer educational value

[@_SridhAr_]

Love the big boy ❤

[@myrlstone8904]

Hyce 👍 Great follow up to Jake’s fine video. The term which you are looking for in describing the operational basis of the boiler water injection unit is Bernoulli’s Principle.

[@MegaGeorge1948]

The injector works on the Bernoulli's principle. Incompressible fluids have to speed up when they reach a narrow constricted section in order to maintain a constant volume flow rate. This is why a narrow nozzle on a hose causes water to speed up. But something might be bothering you about this phenomenon. If the water is speeding up at a constriction, it's also gaining kinetic energy. Where is this extra kinetic energy coming from? The nozzle? The pipe? Yes. The only way to give something kinetic energy is to do work on it. This is expressed by the work energy principle. So if a portion of fluid is speeding up, something external to that portion of fluid must be doing work on it. What force is causing work to be done on the fluid? Well, in most real world systems there are lots of dissipative forces that could be doing negative work, but we're going to assume for the sake of simplicity that these viscous forces are negligible and we have a nice continuous and perfectly laminar (streamline) flow. Laminar (streamline) flow means that the fluid flows in parallel layers without crossing paths. In laminar streamline flow there is no swirling or vortices in the fluid.

[@DavidVerch]

Not sure about chemistry of these sorts of boiler, but in suspended fuel utility boilers, the boiler water cleanliness is dictated by the steam pressure. As steam pressure goes up the density of the steam becomes closer to the density of the water. The higher the pressure the more likely contaminants leave with the steam. So higher pressure boilers have to have cleaner water.

[@DavidVerch]

Interesting on the superheater. I wonder how many degrees of superheat they get in this. I ran a stationary 3 pass fire in tube boiler that had the superheat after the third pass in the exhaust duct. I don't remember how much superheat it developed but it was not a hole lot.

[@angelflightsaviation3742]

I seen this video on my recommended a couple of days ago and I knew Hyce would react to this. *Actually now thinking about it Hyce should have narrated his video XD*

[@railwayjade]

@Hyce777 I must say, the size of the firebox is dumbfounding - when lighting the fire, how the heck does the fireman throw the coal all that way forward!? The jets that shoot the coals in are pretty strong too then. Amazing!

[@ogjk]

Congratulations I saw this video and was hopping you would comment on it epic that you were consulted as well.

[@bluescrew3124]

Yay big Choo Choo

[@jeffreyoliver4735]

Gauges are accurate in the third quadrant only and that accuracy is +- 2% of total gauge pressure here in Alberta as per ABSA. (Alberta Boiler Safety Association)

[@valsyoutube3331]

Big Boys’ axles are actually hollow. I was told this is because solid axles tend to break where as hollow axles flex a little more.

[@vega1287]

31:13 it looks like the lifting link is streching wich it normally doesn't. as in walsherts when the piston is at either fdc or bdc the sliding block is actually lower in the expansion link then when it is at the middle of the stroke and because of that the valve speed is actually different when going forwards compared to backwards, there are variations on walsherts that don't do this like. Winterthur valve gear

[@jesset061084]

Is there any vids out there to how they get this train started in the morning

[@davidfitzgerald3648]

Interesting, very interesting. I now understand more about the articulation, but some fog still remains. How would you describe the locomotives weight distribution between the front and rear driver sets? Is any of the boiler weight carried by the front drivers? Are there other sources that more clearly defines or illustrates the articulation components? Thanks.

[@andrewframe8046]

1:08:20 I think I see the answer to your question about a "clutch" in the firebox door lever... Though I'm not sure how to explain it without a physical butterfly door to look at and point to in order to show you what I'm seeing. I'll try to find pictures to send you.

[@jsax01001010]

In this model, it appears that the gear teeth on the lever don't stay meshed with the teeth on the door. To use the lever, it looks like you have to first pull it towards you and slightly up. That action appears to mesh the teeth on the lever with the teeth on the doors. Then, you can pull down on the lever to open the doors. When you stow the lever back, the teeth un-mesh, and that allows the piston to open the doors without moving the lever as well.