1958 - N&W To Buy 268 New Diesel Units

[NW Mailing List]

Interesting how quickly things change.  I remember reading in the local press here in Hagerstown about Saunders plan to order 268 new units in 1958 to completely replace steam by the end of 1960.  Well, that happened by May 1960, and the 60 steam locomotives "held in reserve" were probably scrapped within months.

I came across a quote by a Southern Pacific official in a 1954 issue of Trains Magazine that steam would exist on SP until about 1965.  In fact, it was gone by 1958.  I think the economic downturn in the late 50's had something to do with how quickly steam operations ended on several railroads.  The ax sure fell on a lot of passenger trains in that period.

--Rick Morrison 
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