Aren't those Erie geeps passenger units equipped with steam generators? Still running in commuter service in the early '70s...

Erie 1260-1265 were freight units.

They did have five GP-7s, 1400-1404 that were equipped for passenger.

JR

1955 seems late for something like a Korean War surcharge, I'd tend to agree with PC that there's a transpose in the '5' and the '9' -- but is the price mentioned in more places than the board note? And what do we kave for comp prices on GP9s in this general time range? I think this is right around the time PRR made their big Geep purchase...

At a point in time in the 2000 oughts, I had access to a spread sheet that was tracking all CSX Capital Expenditures - at that time the GE AC44CW's were being placed on the books at $2.1 Million each. Since that was 20 years ago, I have no idea what engines are going for in 2024.

With the diesel prices shown it made sense for RDG with 10 FT A-B sets in service to order 20 2-8-0's rebuilt into 4-8-4's for fast freight. (they later ordered 10 more 2-8-0's rebuilt into 4-8-4's.)

Phil Mulligan

PRR M-1 prototype, Juniata 1923: $68,317
PRR M-1 mass-production, Baldwin 1926: $65,612

Ref: "Atterbury's Engines", Bert Pennypacker, Trains October 1979

From New York Ontario & Western in the Diesel Age, Robert Mohowski, Andover Junction Publications:

44-ton GE 1941/1942 $35,000
FT A-B pair EMD May 1945 $249,341
NW-2 EMD 1948 $95,673
F3 A-B pair EMD March 1948 $301,701

And at almost the same time, Frisco was rebuilding a different sort of 2-8-0s original constructed before WW1 into what were perhaps the most modern 2-8-2s built in America. I do not have the precise financial details, but was told that it was a consequence of tax law that allowed full depreciation if more than a particular percentage of the engine's value was 'new' construction or equipment. Someone here, I'm sure, has access to those numbers...

BLW billed the narrow-gauge Carson & Colorado $9,000 each for two 4-4-0s, loaded on flat cars. The locomotives were completed April 1883.

From Construction Plant, Methods and Costs Chas H. Paul, Chief Engineer State of Ohio, Miami Conservancy District June 1925

American 40-ton locomotive, standard gage, saddle tank, type 040, 14" x 22" cylinders $13,000
Plymouth model BL 6 ton gasoline locomotive 36" gage $3,040
Plymouth model AL 3 ton gasoline locomotive 36" gage $1,725

(all prices for "new" locos)

A couple of notes: This information was located in Google Books, where there is quite a lot of interesting details on this project, including the costs of locomotive cranes, a number of used locomotives, and a variety of construction equipment. These pieces were purchased for the Dayton Channel Improvement project, and appear to have been bought several years prior to the 1925 date on the report.

JR

F3A EMD March 14, 1947 $140,175
F5A EMD October 1, 1948 $161,266
GP7 EMD September 1, 1951 $155,288

Ref: "Aberdeen and Rockfish Railroad". Warren L. Calloway, Diesel Era, July/August 1992

I have a microfilm copy of the BLW drawing directory, 1939-1952 obtained from the Pennsylvania State Archives several years ago. While doing some browsing I found that a number of pages at the end weren't part of the drawing directory, but were transcriptions of early BLW correspondence, including purchase agreements. Here is a summary of one picked at random-

April 13, 1871
Buyer - Chester and Tamaroa Coal and R.R. Co. of Illinois
0-8-0. 15" x 24" cylinders, 60-3/4" drivers with steel tires.
Compromise gauge, 4'8-1/2" to 4' 10".
Soft Coal
Boiler of cold blast charcoal iron 3/8" thick
Iron flues with copper ferrules on firebox end
Cast steel fire box, 5/16" thick
Eight wheel tender, 18,000 gallons
Supplied with a full complement of tools
Delivered to Tamaroa, Illinois
$10,675 in promissory notes, half payable at six months and half at eight months, 7% interest.

Hi All,

The Baldwin Registers posted pricing often including extras separately (totals only) and total price. They are held at Smithsonian but are not digitized sadly. I know a few people have microfilms and it would be wonderful if they could be digitized. One can wish!

Allen Stanley

Pulling up an old thread, I came across some more locomotive price points.

A letter from Baldwin to the Atlantic and Great Western Railway, dated April 20, 1878 quotes the following:

“Consolidation 22,000 lbs on each driving axle, ninety-seven hundred and fifty dollars”
“18x24 Mogul 22,000 lbs on each driving axle, seventy-seven hundred and fifty dollars”
“17x24 American 23,000 lbs on each driving axle, seventy two hundred dollars”

Note that at this time, A&GW was still six foot gauge. The conversion to standard gauge was still a couple years in the future. It’s unclear from this document whether the quotation was for standard, or six foot gauge engines, as it makes no mention of track gauge.

JR

In May of 1926, Frisco 1522 was $67,500 from Baldwin.