I'm reading a very interesting book, Steam to Diesel, by Albert J. Churella, Princeton University(*) Press, 1998, ISBN 0-691-02776-5. I'm about half-way finished. The author describes in considerable detail the factors behind the relatively quick shift to diesel switcher, passenger and freight locomotives, in that order, and the like decline of steam power. He does not get in to the specifics of the locomotives and their performance in any great detail, but instead describes the managerial customs and organizational capabilities of the twentieth-century American locomotive industry and the railroad's desires. All of which played a major role in the shift to diesel power. Interesting that locomotive manufacturers and railroad bosses played as much of a role as did the performance of diesels verses steam. EMC was a new critter in the game, and once they got going, quickly drove the shift to diesels when they became EMD as part of GM. The other manufacturers tried to also move in the diesel direction, but one by one failed and no longer survived. General Electric (GE) later became an EMD competitor. A good read once you get going. Like I said above, not a lot of detail on the locomotives. Ken (*) Here's one for WindsorSpring !
Who has an autographed copy! I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Churella during the UM-SL - sponsored Symposium in 1998 (or 1999) "How the Diesel Locomotive Changed America." I gave him a railfan tour to Kirkwood to see the Missouri Pacific (MP) station, down to Valley Park to point out the Frisco line and back up to the Museum of Transport during his visit. Two other passengers were Günther Krause of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Eisenbahngeschichte and a gentleman from the British National Railway Museum in York. I had overheard these two inquiring about public transportation to the Museum, so I explained the situation and took them under my wing. When we got there, 1522's overhaul had been completed and it ran back and forth under steam on one of the tracks as a test. We overheard a lady accompanied by a child ask, "Do you do this steam engine thing every weekend?" Needless to say, we had a great time. One impression the book gave me was the railroad industry was eager for diesel power fairly early. I believe there was mention the long time main-line builders like Baldwin and ALCo were looking into producing diesel locomotives. Scarce money during the Depression and the emergency of World War II delayed the diesel transition.
