VGN Jess is anyone aware of any book that speaks to how Baldwin decided to used De La Vergne prime movers and the develpment issues associated with the 608SC? Kettering has a book on the EMD "567", MacDermot has a book on the ALCO "251", no book has been found on the GE 7FDL, so I'm now looking to read on Baldwin and its De La Vergne prime movers. Thanks. PS: were the De La Vergnes as good, better, or worse than the 567, 251, and 7FDL?
is anyone aware of any book that speaks to how Baldwin decided to used De La Vergne prime movers and the develpment issues associated with the 608SC? Kettering has a book on the EMD "567", MacDermot has a book on the ALCO "251", no book has been found on the GE 7FDL, so I'm now looking to read on Baldwin and its De La Vergne prime movers. Thanks. PS: were the De La Vergnes as good, better, or worse than the 567, 251, and 7FDL?
Start with the "Dawn of the Diesel Age" by J.F. Kirkland published by Interurban Press, startingwith Chapter 2 which gives a good background tothe De La Vergne engines.
Baldwin Diesel Locomotives by G Dolzall and S Dolzall, published by Kalmbach has good coverage of the engines in early chapters.
Trains Magazine "All Diesel Issues" in the 1960s included an issue devoted to Baldwin with some background on the diesel engines.
In general, the De La Vergne design engines used by Baldwin were heavier than the later designs as was the Alco 539 but were quite reliable if relatively heavy on maintenance.
Kirkland's "The Diesel Builders" volume on Baldwin and Fairbanks Morse includes some detail of the De La Vergne engine as further developed in Belgium into a V-16 of 4000 horsepower.
Peter
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