Would it be possible to put a 244 or 251 in place of the 539 or is the prime mover just the tip of the iceberg?

I think that in 100 years, there will be steam running, but diesels will be parked.[/quote]


Are the 244 and 251 inline or V? My source has always told me that the early Alcos were superior electrically to an EMD and the loaded and road well. That was where his positive remarks ended. He ran these in normal freight service for years, after most roads had went to EMD or GE.

As far as the 100 year comment, there is a lot of truth to that. Any capable machine shop can make new parts for a steamer. There are groups building new ones from scratch. Can't do that with a diesel. I wonder how much more it would cost to build an all new RS1, RSD15, GP7 or U-boat? It would have to be an immense difference.

Old diesels could probably be kept running. Modern power, all computerized with lots of proprietary component which will eventually become NLA, may end up as display-only.

244 and 251 are "V", 538 and 539 were inline.

Don't forget the in-line 251s in the T-6/S-6, etc.

ETA

That'd be correct. FCP (or one of the other Mexican roads) had repowerd an RS-1 with a 6-251, not sure how (the RPM range is very different), nor what ever happened to it.

CD