Vern Moore Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> An Observer Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Why 1953? Because it took them that long to
> figure
> > out that the cost of decent water plus all the
> > other costs made diesels less expensive to run.
> > That and diesels were becoming more reliable as
> > well.
>
>
> Key words: DECENT WATER.
>
> Western and southern lines dieselized because of
> the costs of providing demineralized water for
> their steam locomotives. In the south, steam
> holdout Norfolk & Western dieselized certain
> districts a decade or more before the rest of the
> road because of high mineral content water that
> played havoc with locomotive boilers. Southern
> had districts plagued by high mineral content in
> AL, GA and FL that converted earlier that the rest
> of the road as well.
>
> In the desert west Santa Fe, SP and UP had "bad
> water districts" where water had to be hauled in
> for lineside watering facilities. Dieselizing
> eliminated the water related costs for those
> desert districts and pointed to the possible cost
> reductions systemwide by converting from steam to
> diesel.

I think there was also something about labor strikes in mines that put the final nail in the coffin.