As to question 1, the answer is as long as the builder and the railroad care to. Many demonstrators never leave the first road they visit. Prime example (to me, anyway) of this, Alco RS3 demonstrator 1602. She went to the Rutland in mid 1950. The Rutland bought her, re-numbered her 200 and she stayed until the end in 1963.
Question 2: Only if the host road doesn't place an order for the model being demonstrated. In this day and age this means a power-by-the hour lease. This is very complicated to explain.
Question 3: They want you to see how their new unit will mesh with the "junk" you have or, better, how it meshes/ MUs with their earlier models. They want to see how their new model will act with the other guy's models, new and old. Then they'll say: "See, our new unit really works well with that junker of theirs" or " Thanks, we wanted to see if their new model and ours MU OK. Oh, and thanks for letting us have that performance data!"
All said and done, all the major builders try to get an opportunity to compare their models MU'ed in the same train. In fact, GE and EMD reps have been known to be riding the same train, each rep in his/her own power, watching intently how the competition behaves with their "baby".
1.How long does a RR get to keep the loco?
2. Does the Builder charge anything for the use of the loco?
3.Can a RR "test drive" (MUing them together) more than one at a tim
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