Why did the ATSF dieselized the entire railroad in 1953.
SPer Why did the ATSF dieselized the entire railroad in 1953.
The SF was trying to cut maintenance costs, but steam did last to run out its last miles in 1957 on the AT&SF. By using diesels, they also eliminated the need of providing water to steam locomotives in the dry southwest area of the USA. It was a simple budget decision after the first road diesels were purchased back in 1941. The FT's really did the work without all of the costs.
CZ
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
The U.S. Government gave Santa Fe priority on the purchase of diesel locomotives during World War 2 to they could haul military cargo across the western U.S. desert, where water for steam locomotives was scarce and the need for rapid delivery was crucial to the war effort.
Santa Fe liked the diesels so much that they purchased them as fast as they could be produced after the war, but other roads were also clamoring for diesel locomotives to cut operating costs and the manufacturers could not turn them out fast enough to keep up with the demand.
I find the question curious in the sense that most major railroads were anxious to dieselize, and most did so by the end of the 1950s if not before.
Alton Junction
John McCall's excellent Early Diesel Daze cuts off at 1953. That was it, the property was dieselized. Except that it wasn't. There were not enough diesels to meet periods of high traffic. So steam was resurrected for another four years. I agree with everything that has been written in this post as to the why. But comments I have read from other Santa Fe historians leads me to write this. The Santa Fe did not fully amortize its wartime investment in steam locomotives. The Baldwin war babys could have been used more and fewer diesels purchased. What I am trying to say is that Santa Fe in its rush to dieselize lost some of the value of its investment in modern steam.
It's possible that the Santa Fe management people were more concerned with the lack of water in the southwestern desert than the cost of the steam engines. The amount of sediments and minerals that are in the water here in the desert was also possibly a consideration because the boilers would quickly scale up and lose steamiing capacity without expensive treatment and maintenance.
Even with a water softener in my house, the amount of scale buildup from the water is a problem.
I will also add to the above comments. Some other major coal hauling roads (N&W) would have had more reason to continue with steam longer (You don't drink coke when pepsi is paying the bills). ATSF converted most (or all) of it's locos to oil burners before the 50's and were never considered a major coal hauler, anyway. So they were more apt to make the switch than other roads. However, water and operating costs were the biggest reasons.
Check out the Deming Sub by clicking on the pics: