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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by Lotus098 All right let's calm down. Basically you have said that railroads should not have switched to diesels because it caused them to loose money. Some facts I think are pertinent and needed to determine this. How much more does a diesel cost to maintain than a steam engine in the shops? Is this more than what is saved in maintenance on the road (i.e. things like water towers) How much more did a diesel mechanic get paid, that you average roundhouse grunt that worked on steam engines? What was the difference in fuel costs between the two? You also stated that diesel locomotives had to be replaced sooner than a steamer. So what are the numbers on this? How long did a steamer last compared to the average diesel of the era? I know maybe these all can't be answered, or vary depending on the road, but definitely something to consider. [/quote] Lotus, What I think Micheal is getting at is not that railroads shoudn't have dieselized, it's that they (1)should not have gone into debt to dieselize en masse, and (2) should have taken more time to test the longevity claims by EMD before dieselizing via normal locomotive attrition. Contrast that with today's situation, wherein coal is now so much cheaper than diesel that if there were steam locomotive manufacturers around (not to mention locomotive coaling facilities), it may very well be that modern steam would be preferable to modern diesel in terms of operating costs. It's something to keep an open mind about.
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