BRAKIE yougottawanta I had always been told that diesal overtook steam because of the quick turn around, cheaper cost etc...That from my recent reading is not the complete picture. The true story is railroads found they could save billions by killing off steam with diesels. Here's what they saw:thousands of steam related jobs could be eliminated,hundreds of roundhouses and dozenss of back shops could be closed and they eye the elimination of thousands of fireman jobs as a bonus. Railroads embraced the diesel and only WWII stopped the railroads from dieselizing sooner. The reason is simple steam was a high maintenance locomotive that self destruct every time those drivers rolled down the track plus a steam engine pounded the rails. BTW.One thing that got ALCO in trouble is they was still thinking steam when railroads was clearly embracing diesels.
yougottawanta I had always been told that diesal overtook steam because of the quick turn around, cheaper cost etc...That from my recent reading is not the complete picture.
The true story is railroads found they could save billions by killing off steam with diesels.
Here's what they saw:thousands of steam related jobs could be eliminated,hundreds of roundhouses and dozenss of back shops could be closed and they eye the elimination of thousands of fireman jobs as a bonus.
Railroads embraced the diesel and only WWII stopped the railroads from dieselizing sooner.
The reason is simple steam was a high maintenance locomotive that self destruct every time those drivers rolled down the track plus a steam engine pounded the rails.
BTW.One thing that got ALCO in trouble is they was still thinking steam when railroads was clearly embracing diesels.
Larry nailed it, its always about the financials when it comes to a business.
"The true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination."-Albert Einstein
http://gearedsteam.blogspot.com/
I have always been a huge diesel fan but really enjoy learning about the steam era. This has been an enlightening thread, very informative. Well done all
Don
Thanks and thanks to every one who posted