The Complete Book of North American Railroading by Kevin EuDaly & Mike Schafer & Jim Boyd & Steve Jessup & Andrew McBride & Steve Glischinski

Author:Kevin EuDaly & Mike Schafer & Jim Boyd & Steve Jessup & Andrew McBride & Steve Glischinski
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: MBI
Published: 2009-04-09T04:00:00+00:00

The Diesel Sales Philosophy

Electro-Motive had made rapid progress in developing a line of off-the-shelf locomotives that could be used anywhere, because it had no history with its customers. The steam builders, on the other hand, were accustomed to working with the different railroads’ mechanical departments in designing locomotives. And most of these mechanical departments had their own ideas on how locomotives, diesel or otherwise, should be built. Dick Dilworth dug in his heels and simply ignored the input, confident that he could design a better locomotive than any bickering committee.

Baldwin, on the other hand, in the shadow of one of the country’s most powerful mechanical departments—the Pennsylvania Railroad—was led astray by too many steam-oriented men who were trying to buy diesels. The steam men couldn’t get used to 1,350- or 1,500-horsepower “building blocks” but wanted really big locomotives like their prize steam monsters. Baldwin lost some valuable market time trying to make the Pennsy happy with a giant 6,000-horsepower passenger unit powered by eight V-8 engines and culminating in the 3,000-horsepower “Centipedes,” packing two 1,500-horsepower engines and riding on a heavy articulated underframe like the GG1 electric but with eight driving wheels in a 2-D+D-2 wheel arrangement. The Pennsy bought 20 Centipedes, but they had rather short service lives. The Seaboard Air Line and National Railways of Mexico each bought 14 Centipedes, as well.

Trying to settle down to more conventional formats, Baldwin had more success with 2,000-horsepower twin-engine “Baby Face” passenger and 1,500-horsepower freight units after the war. But even here they got diverted. Unique in American railroading were the six double-ended Baby Face 2,000-horsepower passenger units used in commuter service by the Jersey Central.

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