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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by Wdlgln005 Another item to consider is the choice made by consumers. THe railroads had a hard time as it wes competing against trucks, cars & jet airplanes. THe continued use of slow steamers would make this situation worse. Can you imagine a world with no Budd streamliners? Who would ride in a dome if you can't see thru the smoke? Who would be willing to wait an additional 2-4 hrs per trip to ride behind steam? The railroads would be seen as old fashioned dinosaurs, holding on to ancient technology. This als assumes there would be no further development in steam technology. [/quote] I don't believe it is an apt assumption that steam was slow and diesels were fast. Don't forget that the introduction of diesels coincided with the advent of superpower steam and streamlined steam. Remember the Hiawathas? In fact, a precept at the time was that diesels were best for lugging, while steam was best for speed. But you may be correct as far as public perceptions of the time. Also, railroads dieselized en masse a good decade or so before they started *losing* freight market share to the Interstate Highway System. And the loss of that business directly coincides postscript with the apex of railroad speed orientation. The apex of railroad speed was in the 1930's, afterwhich FRA/ICC regulations put the kibosh on those 100+mph trains. After this time railroads focused on increasing the load factor per train, which resulted in the longer slower concept and effectively ended competitive branchline service. It can also be said that normal railroad speed evolution ended in the 1930's, while highway and airline speeds were still increasing through the next few decades. Rather than the "what if's" if EMC never materialized, I think it is more profound to consider the "what if" railroad speeds had continued to increase to their theoretical 125+-max.
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