The Big Switch

The New York Central Railroad Co. last week placed the year's biggest order for locomotives. They were all diesels--in of them, to cost $21,000,000. Thus, the New York Central marked the quiet revolution which has been going on in the Central--and many another U.S. railroad --since war's end. The revolt is against steam locomotives in favor of oil-burning diesels. Of the 1,176 locomotives which U.S. railroads had on order Dec. 1, only 33 were steam. The rest were diesels.

The bulk of the diesel orders has gone to General Motors' Electro-Motive Division, which last week got an $11,000,000 chunk of the Central order (the rest went to American Locomotive and Fairbanks, Morse). G.M. was ahead in diesel locomotives chiefly because it was the first to adapt the heavy diesel engine effectively to passenger and freight locomotives.

Boss Ket's Way. It was back in 1928 that G.M.'s Alfred P. Sloan asked Chief Engineer Charles Franklin Kettering why the diesel was so cumbersome. Boss Ket snapped back: because the engineers persist in making them so. Shortly after, Boss Ket went to work simplifying and lightening diesels. Into his experiments G.M. put $25,000,000, including the purchase of a plant for locomotives at La Grange, Ill.

While G.M. tinkered, American Locomotive turned out a small number of heavy switching diesels. But the industry's big interest remained in steam.

Not till the war did G.M.'s experiment pay off. The Army gave G.M. big orders for diesels for overseas work (where there was more oil than coal). On the other hand, the Government restricted the old-line companies, American and Baldwin, to making war equipment for the military, and steam locomotives for U.S. railroads. Thus, war's end found G.M. well ahead in diesels. Of some 5,000 diesel units now in service, two-thirds have been built by G.M. Into the once staid locomotive industry, G.M. has also breathed some of the dog-eat-dog competitive spirit of the auto industry. One of its tricks was to build its diesel-drawn Train of Tomorrow (TIME, June 2), to sell diesel travel to passengers and engines to railroads.

Young's Way. Passengers needed little selling. The practically smokeless diesels provide a cleaner, smoother ride than steam. And railroads found that the high initial cost of diesels (the $600,000 is twice that of a steam engine) is offset by more efficient use of fuel, fewer layups, lower repair costs and less roadbed damage.

The greatest selling obstacle has been the railroads' reluctance to hurt their best customers--the coal companies (35% of all freight tonnage is coal). The Santa Fe, with more diesel units than any other road (542), is well out of the coal country. (The Central has 334 diesel units.) Though diesels still comprise only 10% of all locomotives, they have already begun to invade coal roads like the Pennsylvania, which bought more diesels than any other road this year.

One of the few holdouts is Robert R. Young's Chesapeake & Ohio, which earns 80% of its income from coal-hauling. Asked recently when C. & 0. would diesel-ize, a Young aide snapped: "Never, I hope." With his new coal-burning steam turbine "500" locomotive, now touring the country, Bob Young hopes to prove that he has something better than a diesel. His engine is closer to the next development which he thinks will crowd out the diesels--the oil-or coal-burning gas turbine locomotives.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.