jim pastorius posted:The S2 turbine went from the drawing boards to working prototype and never really had a chance to get the bugs worked out. Plus WW II accelerated the use and development of the diesel.
Actually that isn't true. By the end of the EMC/EMD FT Demonstrator tour in spring 1940, the railroads were lining up and ordering FT units so fast, it boggles the mind (Santa Fe was the first to oder, immediately after testing the FT Demo set). By mid 1942, EMD was limited as to how many FT units they could produce (only 10 units a day) by the War Production Board. The EMD Diesel engine production line was capable of more than 15 engines a day, but the "extra engines" all went to the military (Navy primarily for LST vessels), thus the freight railroads simply could not purchase & receive enough diesel units. Thus, many railroads were FORCED to continue purchasing steam locomotives. If it hadn't been for the WPB limitations on EMD, the U.S. railroads would have been dieselized much sooner, thus WWII actually hindered the dieselization process.
The steam engine was a known design with a huge in- place infrastructure to serve them, with shops and train mechanics.
All the more reason that the railroads wanted to dieselize as soon as they could. With diesels, there was no longer a need for tens of thousands of shop personnel needed to service & maintain all those steam locomotives.
I had a company magazine from Westinghouse who developed the gearbox based on one they made for ships plus the drivers were made so one could rotate faster through a curve than the other. I gave the magazine to Kalmbach but they didn't really use it. All this without a whole lot of testing. A different world then in design and building.
