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What locomotives should I use for my fictional Railroad?

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  • Member since
    May 2004
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Posted by 7j43k on Friday, October 26, 2018 7:45 PM

Doughless

 

 
7j43k

Now, back to the chit-chat:

 

It's been sticking in my head that there's the little U boat and the little Alco.  How to explain them, if everything else is EMD.

So, the argument to go GE DOES have a good point.  You could have a mix of Century's and GE's.  Instead of the dash 2's.  And you'd also need a really good crew in your shops to keep them happy.  There's a reason the dash 2's won.

I think the point of the question is how to assemble a roster that looks sorta kinda half-way reasonable.  And fun.

 

Ed

 

 

 

Wasn't GE thought of as the successor to Alco?

 

 

Not by me.  

Successor:  someone or something that comes after another person or thing

GE was making diesel locomotives long before Alco folded, so couldn't be a successor.

 

Ed

  • Member since
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  • From: Omaha, NE
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Posted by dehusman on Saturday, October 27, 2018 6:30 AM

Doughless
Wasn't GE thought of as the successor to Alco?

As others have pointed out, they were manufactured concurrently, GE was more like the the reason Alco went out of business.  There wasn't enough of a market for 3 manufacturers.  EMD had the lion's share of the business, Alco was buying electrical components from GE, so GE had and advantage.

Dave H. Painted side goes up. My website : wnbranch.com

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  • From: Heart of Georgia
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Posted by Doughless on Saturday, October 27, 2018 2:27 PM

dehusman

 

 
Doughless
Wasn't GE thought of as the successor to Alco?

 

As others have pointed out, they were manufactured concurrently, GE was more like the the reason Alco went out of business.  There wasn't enough of a market for 3 manufacturers.  EMD had the lion's share of the business, Alco was buying electrical components from GE, so GE had and advantage.

 

Ok, I was thinking that GE and Alco used the same traction motors, and they were made by GE.  So I was thinking the companies were related to each other with GE taking over the Alco market.

I guess they were simply competitors. 

- Douglas

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Posted by 7j43k on Saturday, October 27, 2018 2:44 PM

Not always.  In 1925, Alco, GE and Ingersol Rand produced the first American diesel locomotive for CNJ.

GE did the electrical.  IR did the engine and, I've GOT to believe, the air compressor.  Alco did all other fabrication and the mechanical assembly.

 

Ed

  • Member since
    April 2009
  • From: Staten Island NY
  • 1,734 posts
Posted by joe323 on Monday, October 29, 2018 6:10 AM

Personally, I like GP 38-2’s they still seem ubiquitous on todays railroads and I run them on my fictional road.  But I have a short line.  Not sure what I would run on longer routes.

Joe Staten Island West 

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