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Why so few SD.80 MACS?
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Without a definitive statement from CSX or NS or EMD, we're never really going to know the exact reasons why the decisions were made. I'm not going to worry about this, because (a) it's unlikely they'll ever let anyone that deeply into their internal decision-making, (b) even if they do tell you, it's difficult to gauge if what they're saying is spun or not, and (c) decisions like this are so complicated and drawn out and involve so many people that the players may not even know exactly what they did, why they did it, and when they did it. So even if you had a tape recording of every conversation ever made on this subject, you'd probably not be able to figure it out. Railroading is an inexact science. When you delve deeply into these decisions you end up measuring intent. Even the Supreme Court doesn't try to measure intent; they presume it, based on reasonable behavior and known outcomes. <br /> <br />Which locomotive model to purchase is an outcome of considerations of price, performance, and need. Any one of those three criteria being seriously out of whack compared to other choices means the model is unlikely to be purchased. Secondary factors include time of delivery, value in a secondary market, and opportunity cost. <br /> <br />Price: All other things being equal, a locomotive with a 20-cylinder engine is going to be more expensive than a locomotive with a 16-cylinder engine. Do you get value? Only if you get a better match between performance and need. How much better a match? That's a very tricky thing to calculate. <br /> <br />Performance: You only get to take advantage of more horsepower at higher speeds. At 3 mph, you can't tell the difference between an SD70MAC, SD80MAC, or SD90MAC. At 50 mph, the big-horsepower locomotive will make itself known. Can you realize these speeds often enough? Enough to make a difference in crew costs, track time, lower car-hire, happier customers, more market share, fuel burn, maintenance, revenue, profits? Can you even measure these accurately? I really doubt it. <br /> <br />Need: Do you really need this big locomotive? Would you rather have a one-size-fits-all locomotive fleet to optimize flexibility, maintainability, and manageability? Or would you rather have specialization to optimize efficiency of each train? The reality is that it's extremely difficult to manage a fleet to consistently get the right locomotive in the right place at the right time. When you try and match locomotives to jobs, you end up with a lot of locomotives sitting around doing nothing, while at the same time you have a lot of freight sitting around waiting for the right locomotive to show up. The temptation is to grab the first locomotive available, whatever it is, and run the train. Then you end up with terrible mismatches and poor performance. <br /> <br />The classic example of no standardization from history is the battlecruiser. Admirals couldn't resist putting them in with the battleships even though they had inferior armor, and the outcomes were disastrous. (Amazingly, the UK did this not only in WWI at Jutland, losing three battlecruisers, but again in WWII, putting the Hood up against the Bismarck.) <br /> <br />The classic example of standardization is Southwest Airlines' one-airplane fleet of 737s -- you have to acknowledge their operating ratio and profitability. <br /> <br />Note that UP and BNSF have standardized on exactly two types of road locomotives, D.C. and A.C. versions of the same 4000-4400 hp thing. They even have tended to sole-source the D.C. versions, BNSF from G.E., and UP from EMD. <br /> <br />
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