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[wjstix]

In WW2 diesels would be maybe 10% of locomotives around, at most, but they were around. EMD E-unit diesels like the E-3 predated the war and were fairly common, as were EMD, Alco, and Baldwin switchers. FT-103's successful tour of the US in 1939-40 caused many railroads to order F unit diesels in 1940-41. But after the WPB took over, diesels were rationed out, so many roads ordered diesels and got steam. (One exception was the Minneapolis & St.Louis, who ordered 2-6-6-2's and got diesels instead - they would have had to rebuild at least one bridge to run the mallets, and the gov't decided it would be more efficient to send them diesels rather than allocate all the steel needed for the bridge rebuilding program.)

[Kevin C. Smith]

Whoa! Articulateds on the Louie? My impression was that is was a thinly trafficed granger road (like so many others). Did they just run a few large tonnage trains (a'la Chicago Great Western) or did they really have that much traffic? I've never really studied the M&St.L, so I don't know-enlightenment, please!

[DSchmitt]

During WW1 Baldwin made 60 cm gauge, 35 HP and 50 HP gas (petrol) mechanicals for the US Army. 170 of them (61 35 HP and 109 50 HP) were sent overseas. 19 (50 HP) were used at bases in the US.

The US Army also ordered 300 gas mechanicals from Whitcomb, but non were ready in time for use in the war.

Source Narrow Gauge to No Mans Land by Richard Dunn.

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

The proposed M&StL 2-6-6-4's were to be relatively light, probably because of the lighter rail on its lines, they were definitely going to be a lot smaller than an N&W A. I would assume that operations would have been Deramus-style, a handful of heavy tonnage trains per day.

[PBenham]

QUOTE: Originally posted by CSSHEGEWISCH

The proposed M&StL 2-6-6-4's were to be relatively light, probably because of the lighter rail on its lines, they were definitely going to be a lot smaller than an N&W A. I would assume that operations would have been Deramus-style, a handful of heavy tonnage trains per day.

They were based upon Seaboard Air Line's 2-6-6-4s, which in turn had some design elements based upon the experience of the Pittsburgh & West Virginia's 2-6-6-4s. BTW why not call the type "Piedmont", since all but P&WV used them on such terrain. B&O bought some ex-Seaboard 2-6-6-4s following WWII, but used them the same way P&WV did.

[wjstix]

The M-St.L mainline had a fair amount of mainline freight between the Twin Cities and Peoria IL. I think that is what the mallets would have been used for, instead they used A-B-A F units. (I'm not an expert on the Louie but Hugo Olson, my uncle - technically one of my Mom's uncles - worked in the HQ of the M-St.L so I've always been interested in it. He would have retired about the time the C&NW took over in 1960.)

[wjstix]

BTW there is a good film called "Fast Freight" that the M-St.L made c.1950 talking about their top freight train between Mpls and Peoria...just in case anyone is interested.

http://cgi.ebay.com/4-Documentaries-M-StL-Fast-Freight-SP-Snow-On-Run_W0QQitemZ6623249039QQcategoryZ74727QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[anchorvideos]

I will check with dad tomorrow. He was a locomotive fireman during WW II. He arrived in Europe on D-Day +6.

[Anonymous]

My experience of nine years with 4, FM OP 8 1/8x10, 6 cylinder duel fuel engines in a constant duty powerhouse continues to cause the question to arise: "Were WWII submarine FM engines reliable?" Someone, you are invited to compute equvalent mileage of an engine at 900 rpm day and night for six months. Assume whatever speed you want. That was the record for trouble free constant operation of one of our engines. The boss said 13,000 hours between overhauls but he missed that by years.

Our engines required constant work on the accessary gear train, vibration dampner, cylinder liner seals, generator tail bearing failures and vertical drive shaft/bearing failures plus the manufacture had poor customer support. It required four years of rebuilding and replacing injectors before our shop was told that the specs in the factory manual were wrong, too high. The torsional vibration dampner problems were never solved even after using several factory design replacements. We changed 144 cylinders in four years before the factory could figure out how to seal 240 degree F coolant from filling the crankcases after engine cooldown/shutdown.
How did we win the war?

[anchorvideos]

Checked with Dad. He was a fireman in the USA 729th ROB, Company A. He said that in 2 1/2 years he had only one run in a diesel. All the rest was steam powered. He picked it up at "the docks" and passed it off at the end of his run. He is not sure he even saw another diesel the whole time he was in Europe. He was there until the end of the war.