I do not remember just what year it was, but, as I recall, in the early fifties the T&P used a steam engine to ford a flooded area--as reported in Trains.
Johnny
MidlandMike SPer Why did Rock Island,Western Pacific,Santa Fe,and Cotton Belt stopped using steam locomotives in 1953 Because they had enough diesels.
SPer Why did Rock Island,Western Pacific,Santa Fe,and Cotton Belt stopped using steam locomotives in 1953
Why did Rock Island,Western Pacific,Santa Fe,and Cotton Belt stopped using steam locomotives in 1953
Because they had enough diesels.
The Rock Island only had enough diesels to handle the normal business level. A small number of steam engines were kept servicable in anticipation of the summer/fall rushes in 1953. Instead of firing them up, they were able to temporarily lease diesels from the GN to handle the rushes.
The last use of RI steam was April 1954 when an 0-8-0 switched flood covered tracks.
Jeff
SPer Santa Fe retired all of its steam locomotives by 1953 with one exception . No 3780 is the only SF steam loco to run past 1953 . She ran until 1957.
Santa Fe retired all of its steam locomotives by 1953 with one exception . No 3780 is the only SF steam loco to run past 1953 . She ran until 1957.
Because they hadn't quite managed to eliminate them in 1952?
So many railroads wanted diesels after WW2 that there was often a 2-3 year wait to get an order filled. Same with streamlined passenger cars. I suspect if railroads could have bought diesels quicker, many of them would have been all diesel several years earlier. (The uptick in traffic I suspect the Korean Conflict caused probably meant some railroads found they had to run more steam in 1952-53 then they would liked to have done.)
Was it not you who asked this question, or a similar one on another forum not long ago?
The simple answer is "economics."
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