Graham Buxton Wrote:
> I'm not so sure that the "economics" of the
> Milwaukee electric operations were the primary
> driver in the decision to abandon electrification
> in favor of only diesels. One school of thought
> is that the Milwaukee board of directors believed
> that there was no future for an independent
> Milwaukee, and were preparing the Milwaukee to be
> merged into the BN, as the only way forward. And
> that would mean that interoperability of the MILW
> locomotives with the BN fleet was more important
> than whether or not the continued use of
> electification was cost effective.
>

Noel T. Holley, in his book, The Milwaukee Electrics, attributes much of the decision to abandon the electrification to economics, although the proposed BN merger is mentioned, too.

The Milwaukee Road was in such desperate financial circumstances, it just did not have the ability to close the gap between the two electrified routes, purchase new locomotives and upgrade the electrical infrastructure. Puget Power & General Light even offered to pay for some improvements. General Motors countered by offering good deals on new diesels, but also offered to build 3,000 hp electrics. The Milwaukee Road ultimately determined it was cheaper to buy new diesels.