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The short answer: neither. Period. They're both good. Look at the sales numbers. GE has sold more in recent years in the North American market. EMD has sold more in the overseas market. Neither builder has driven the other from either field. If one was demonstrably better for any period of time, the other would be gone. Some people say that railroads will buy an inferior product "to keep the other guy honest." Would you do that? I wouldn't! I'd buy the best product going, and if that leaves me with one builder, well, at worst that's a problem for the next guy, because I'll be retired by then. More likely that won't happen, because there's enough money involved here that a new company will come into the business. And it will be fun, too. If the one big builder has gotten complacent, is the new guy ever going to have a sweet sales message for a lot of customers really mad at the old guy. GE didn't come into the market to compete with Alco, they came in to compete with EMD. They knew EMD built a good product, and they figured they could too, and there was enough for both. Yes, it took them 20 years to figure out the business and catch up to EMD's lead, but they did it. The fundamental question is value -- "reliability" and "better" can only be measured if you know the price you have to pay to get them. Value is difficult to determine and often very specific to the way a railroad perceives its needs at a particular time. But the products are too closely matched for one builder to have it all over the other in value, at least right now. It's interesting to talk to the builders. They do not bad-mouth the other guy, ever. Think of it this way. You run a speed shop. Your customers are all go-fast guys who know cars inside and out. Your competitor and you split the market. Your customers shop the two of you against each other constantly. So a customer comes in one day, and asks, "Why should I go here?" You say, "because Joe across the street is a lying SOB whose work is junk." The customer says, "Gee, Gus, I don't know. I think he's honest and I've liked what he's done for me. People who buy his engines have won some races, you know." Now you really, truly, wish you'd kept your mouth shut. You probably don't want to disagree with your customer's opinion of Joe -- you might as well say, "What are you? Stupid?" You could admit that maybe you exaggerated a bit. Your customer then says, "Well, how do I know you're not exaggerating a bit when you say you can get me 10 more hp in this engine?" "Uh, because this time I'm not lying?" No, what you do is frankly state the obvious: your competitor (GE or EMD) is really, really good. But, you say, your product might be a little better match for your customer's specific situation. If you've done your homework, and you can make the case, you might make the sale. And that's exactly what we see in the locomotive market. Neck-and-neck sales, with GE winning this order and EMD that order. The winners in this battle are the railroads, who are getting a MUCH better locomotive than they would in a closed-market, sole-source system. If you just have to find an inferior builder, look overseas. There's no builder in an open, diesel-electric market that has succeeded against EMD and GE. I enjoy these discussions about which builder is better -- it's a Ford pickup vs. Chevy pickup debate. It's a Broncos vs. Raiders debate. You defend your hometown team, claim the other team is a bunch of snakes, drink a beer, tell some lame jokes, go home happy.
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