Ernest H. Robl Wrote:
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> BNSF1995 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The freight railroads have invested too much in
> > diesel locomotives. That, and it would be
> > cost-prohibitive to electrifiy every single
> > branchline and industrial spur.
>
>
> Even in Europe there are non-electrified tracks in
> almost every station, and many industrial and
> branch lines are also not electrified. The
> percentages of electrification quoted in most
> statistics are for intercity mainlines.
>
> Even the Swiss railroads have a substantial number
> of diesel locomotives for working industries and
> for use on work trains on track sections where the
> catenary is either turned off intentionally for
> maintenance or has been damaged by storms or other
> factors.
>
> On the other hand, dual mode locomotives with both
> straight electric and diesel electric power are
> gaining in popularity in Europe. Some of these
> are not only dual mode but also multi-system,
> meaning they can operate on the different
> electrical systems of several countries. There
> are essentially two different types of dual mode
> locomotives: Those that are designed for mainline
> use in either mode (though the diesel mode
> typically provides less power than straight
> electric) and "last mile" locomotives that have
> much lower diesel power, primarily to be used for
> low speed switching.
>
> Two of the most popular mainline dual mode
> locomotives come from Stadler, the EuroDual and
> the Euro9000 (the latter being the newer version
> available with multi-system features). You can
> search for more information on these.
>
> While the European dual mode locomotives are
> designed primarily for freight service, I would
> not be surprised if Stadler tried to adapt and
> market one of these models for American passenger
> service.
>
> Even some maintenance of way equipment in Europe
> is now dual mode, including a mainline tamper from
> Plasser that can operate in full electric mode
> under catenary and in diesel-electric mode where
> catenary power in not available.

There you go with posting a good post with a reasoned balanced logical premise based on facts.

Maybe, the idea of using the most-effectiveness competing technologies, under different conditions, to meet differing railroading needs, is just too logical for some folks to comprehend?