Help for a neophyte ?

[NW Modeling List]

Neil asked when Norfolk and Western gave in to diesel power.  I think 
the "why" explains the "when."
N&W was a model of efficiency when it came to designing and operating 
steam locomotives.  But when N&W became the last class 1 railroad 
operating steam on a large scale, they had to face the problem of 
parts made by outside suppliers.  I have read in print that the price 
for parts, even those that N&W started to make in-house, doubled and 
quadrupled in price.  In the larger picture of things, the merger 
movement was well under way before the end of steam.  There is no way 
the company could have achieved motive power flexibility by retaining 
steam any longer as the railroad shortly expanded west of the 
Mississippi and north into Canada.  That is also why the Virginian 
electrification did not fit in this picture.  Just my opinion, but 
the increase in train tonnage alone in the 1960's would have doomed 
A's and Y6's without a lot of double heading.

I know a certain N&W president gets the blame for ending steam 
operations and curtailing passenger service, but the handwriting was 
on the wall.  Just because a company consistently turned in tidy 
profits was no excuse to be sentimental about change.

Rick Morrison