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<DIV><FONT size=4>Fred/Ed</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>This is true. After the first E units and F units proved
that diesels were practical for tasks beyond just switching, the railways were
confronted with a gap of over ten years in which no significant capital
investment in motive power had been made, and consequently no advances in the
technology of steam power were incorporated into their fleets. There was a
choice of investing in modern steam power, which was far more efficient than
that which was largely in use after the war, or in diesel power (there was
insufficient capital available to the railway trade to even consider large scale
electrification). Only a handful of railways elected to purchase modern
steam power in any quantities, and those that did soon realized the error of
their ways, for all the reasons cited. </FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>Had economic conditions throughout the thirties been more
normal, one can assume that the railways would have invested in technologically
up to date steam power across that decade, and had that occurred, the diesel
conversion might have been forestalled another decade or so—but without doubt it
would have happened even given the most efficient of external combustion
locomotives it faced.</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=4>Dwight</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV style="font-color: black"><B>From:</B> <A title=fwschneider@comcast.net
href="mailto:fwschneider@comcast.net">Frechneider</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Sent:</B> Thursday, 15 May, 2014 09:26</DIV>
<DIV><B>To:</B> <A title=pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org
href="mailto:pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org">Western PA Trolley
discussion</A> </DIV>
<DIV><B>Subject:</B> Re: [PRCo] UMW blamed for diesels</DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>
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<DIV
style='FONT-SIZE: small; TEXT-DECORATION: none; FONT-FAMILY: "Calibri"; FONT-WEIGHT: normal; COLOR: #000000; FONT-STYLE: normal; DISPLAY: inline'>That
too. They had a decade of equipment sitting idle in the 1930s
followed by five years of beating their engines to death in the early
1940s. Amen. Thanks.<BR><BR><BR>On May 15, 2014, at 9:10
AM, Edward H. Lybarger wrote:<BR><BR>> We also need to consider the
timing...railroads could have converted to<BR>> diesels much earlier than
they did, but would have had to write off a large<BR>> amount of investment
to do so. By the end of the war, though, a lot of that<BR>> investment
was simply worn out and had to be replaced anyway. At this point<BR>>
the railroads were simply following the dollars and buying the most<BR>>
transportation they could get for the buck. Steam locomotives and
their<BR>> attendant infrastructure were horribly inefficient, and did not
get replaced<BR>> in kind. John L. Lewis was a side show.<BR>>
<BR>> Ed<BR>> <BR>> -----Original Message-----<BR>> From:
pittsburgh-railways-bounces@mailman.dementix.org<BR>>
[mailto:pittsburgh-railways-bounces@mailman.dementix.org] On Behalf Of
Fred<BR>> Schneider<BR>> Sent: Thursday, May 15, 2014 9:01 AM<BR>> To:
Western PA Trolley discussion<BR>> Subject: Re: [PRCo] UMW blamed for
diesels<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> I think we have to look at everything
..<BR>> <BR>> 1. Smoke control laws.<BR>> <BR>>
2. UMW strikes making it hard to get coal.<BR>> <BR>>
3. Economics of running steam . we can lay off 4 out of every 5
workers<BR>> and well a lot of ground we had used for shop buildings.
Might even be able<BR>> to sell some shop buildings to other people for
factories but that isn't too<BR>> likely.<BR>> <BR>> 4. No
need for water in the deserts of the American west. <BR>>
<BR>> 5. Locomotive availability . that diesel will run for
thousands of miles<BR>> before it needs any servicing. Fueling
can be done from a truck driven up<BR>> to the railroad . we don't need water
columns, tanks, coal tipples. And<BR>> the steam engine will run
about 100 miles between service stops and it needs<BR>> a lot of spare
engines along the way because it likes to self destruct. <BR>> <BR>>
An example of the self destruct concept.. When the PRR ran steam
from<BR>> Philadelphia to Harrisburg, there was a K4s stationed in Lancaster
as a<BR>> protect engine. In the evening it sat in the station
facing west because<BR>> most trains ran west in the evening. In
the morning in faced east.<BR>> Always with a crew on it. John
Bowman told the story of standing in the<BR>> cab of that K4 one day talking
when he was told to jump off NOW. The<BR>> signals had changed to
clear on the pocket track. They were going to work.<BR>> In January
1938, when the wires were energized to Harrisburg, the protect<BR>> engine
was no longer needed. <BR>> <BR>> The steam engine may have been
pretty to the railfan . dynamic . great to<BR>> watch. But we
have to think how many billions of dollars were saved by<BR>> scrapping them
..... and how much cleaner the sky is over Pittsburgh,<BR>> Pitcairn,
Glenwood, Rook, McKees Rocks and other places. <BR>> <BR>> I've been
sending these guys some interesting articles on Pittsburgh<BR>>
Railways. I have ignored the smoke control stories but they are
there too.<BR>> And there was an occasional picture of downtown on days when
you couldn't<BR>> see the top of the Gulf Building from the
street. <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> On May 15, 2014, at 8:21 AM, John
Swindler wrote:<BR>> <BR>>> <BR>>> <BR>>> Easier to blame
another industry/organization than to look at the<BR>> economics of railroad
operation. Some of David Morgan's writing talk about<BR>> the
reduction/elimination of labor costs associated with conversion to<BR>>
diesel - despite the high initial capital costs for diesel operation.
<BR>>> <BR>>> <BR>>> <BR>>> <BR>>>
<BR>>>> From: fwschneider@comcast.net<BR>>>> Date: Fri, 2 May
2014 14:33:45 -0400<BR>>>> To:
pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org<BR>>>> Subject: [PRCo] UMW
blamed for diesels<BR>>>> <BR>>>> Writer forgets that the PRR
announced several days earlier that it would<BR>> cooperate with smoke
control. Blame cannot be totally based on either<BR>> smoke
control, economics or John L. Lewis and his boys. <BR>>>>
<BR>>>>
http://news.google.com/newspapers?id=FisbAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6kwEAAAAIBAJ&p<BR>>>>
g=3025%2C2594239<BR>>>> <BR>>>> <BR>>>>
<BR>>>> _______________________________________________<BR>>>>
Pittsburgh-railways mailing list<BR>>>>
Pittsburgh-railways@mailman.dementix.org<BR>>>>
https://mailman.dementix.org/mailman/listinfo/pittsburgh-railways<BR>>>
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