So, speaking of the impossible, here is my 2nd theoretical jumping off point for Pennsy to stick with steam. 1945
A very short window but a critical one. The decision to build the T1's was already made. The decisions about the experimental's, such as the S2 was already made and those are hard facts. Fine, good starting point and keep going. It is simply a decision to stick with steam, plain and simple. The war weary locomotives needed replacing and the steam guys win out, trusted and convincing arguments to keep steam. After all, this is the PRR, we have coal, we are different than the rest, the same but different. As we define whoever is our Prime Minister up here "First among equals". Diesels are deliberatly dismissed out of hand, there will be no consideration at all. None whatsoever. A direction is undertaken and just the sheer massive numbers required ensure steam for a long time. As Overmod has stated, the lollipops won't do it anymore. There can be no turning back.Huge numbers of locomotives are retired, huge numbers are ordered. Altoona and Juniata are in full swing building mode, they lean on Baldwin hard, perhaps even for the 1st time really Lima as well, for advanced but time tested modern steam. Stick with maybe 4 standard wheel arraignments for the entire system. Interchangeable parts as much as possible, rolling repairs and maintenance procedures adopted. There is simply an outright refusal to purchase Diesels as a corporate direction, period over and out. Decision made, you run your railroad, we will run ours. Have a nice day. Also, once again a closer alliance with N&W, thus avoiding NYC altogether. Hey you guys over there at NYC, you wanna sell the CASO? Closer alliances with CPR. By the way, you guys enjoying all those failed crankshafts, electrical shorts, leaking everything, fires, and pistons hanging out like a dogs tongue?
Dollar wise I believe they actually might come out ahead, considering the tremendous waste of money blown on first generation Diesels from all the builders in the big rush to Dieselize. No Centipedes, No Sharks, No PA's, no FM, all of it a bitter costly disappointment, most of it scrapped, little used, or in dead lines in 10 years, mechanics nightmares. A lot of money for a lot of heartache.
Sure things get better for the Diesels and in a relative short period of time but not on our dime, let the others work it out, if it works out, (which of course it did), but the cost was enormous and we are not fools.
Instead they blew something like 50+ million on the T1's and cheered them on for what...3 months?, six months? before enacting corporate sabatoge on them. Then bought a bunch of horrible Diesels at tremendous expense. Thats were Pennsy lost it's mojo. They pretended to be progressive all the while watching it burn money worthy of an ash pit.
New steam would have served them well until their time ran out due to environmental laws, but who knows how long really. Then they could go to Diesels, 3rd generation starting by then, with no worries.
Instead of Norfolk Southern we would have the Pennsylvania, Norfolk and Southern RR. What us, the folks, would still call the Pennsy.