If the claims about steam, vs. diesel costs are true, then someone needs to provide some fact-based explanations.

1. Explain how a railroad with 1,500+ steam locomotives could dieselize with 600 units while ton-miles grew, yet steam was/is cheaper.

2. Explain how a railroad with over 25,000 people in shops and roundhouses (e.g. boilermakers, meachinists, pipefitters, helpers, appretices, firebuilders, fire knockers, etc.) to maintain, repair, service and overhaul/rebuild 1,500 steam locomotives now manages to maintain almost 8,000 diesels with 2,500 people. And no, contracting out is not involved. Explain how that's cheaper.

3. Explain how 10 heavy backshops, 35 running-repair shops, and dozens of roundhouses (not to mention the machinery in them) plus hundreds of coal chutes, water tanks, water plugs, water treatment plants, pipelines, ash pits, coal and ash handling systems, etc. are cheaper than 1 backshop, 5 running repair shops, and a dozen fueling facilities.

4. Explain how diesels could go 500,000 miles between overhauls, while steam engines did very well to go 100,000 miles between overhauls and how steam is cheaper.

I'm not buying those arguments, most of which have been thoroughly discredited time and time again