What are your opinions about returning export diesels to the US and preserving them? Alco in particular and EMD as well made a lot of interesting export models that are in many cases similar to US models but have often striking differences. Would such a unit, say an Australian, Spanish, or Indian Alco DL500 "World Locomotive" be an interesting and/or useful addition to a musuem or tourist operation? (The DL500 is essentially a stretched FA with a 251 engine and trimount trucks similar to those of a PA) Obviously track gauge would be an issue
for operation, as would the cost of shipping. Still, such a unit might be useful in portraying a "world view" of what these builders did. Would bringing a running unit over for a tourist or museum operation be at all economical? I know some ex-Hammersley Iron hood units were recently returned from Australia for freight operations, and there are the Chinese SY 2-8-2s...Just a 'philosophical' question.

davew833@yahoo.com

> operation be at all economical? I know some
> ex-Hammersley Iron hood units were recently
> returned from Australia for freight
> operations,

The EMD units that came fro Hammersley wern't built in the U.S. or Canada. They were built by EMD liscensee Clyde in Austrailia. However, I bet the units were shipped in kit form and were just assembled by Clyde. Anyone know?

wilkidm@wku.edu

If you are a museum interpreting the builder, than why not include the international product line? Even Glover built for export.

For a tourist railroad, anything that does the job economically and legally and provides the corect image from anywhere should do. We have Irish in NJ, Central American in CO, german NG stuff in a variety of places, Chinese in the midwest, Swedish way up north.

I find it interesting to compare different technologies used on locomotives from different countries.

Dave

irondave@bellsouth.net

> What are your opinions about returning
> export diesels to the US and preserving
> them? Alco in particular and EMD as well
> made a lot of interesting export models that
> are in many cases similar to US models but
> have often striking differences.
The Spanish have an Alco FA-looking export or license-built diesel in their National Railway Museum in Madrid. I believe the Greeks also preserved one.

denmeg_hogan@msn.com

I seem to recall from reading a British Pulblication that one of the Portuguese ALCO road-switchers was being preserved in Portugal. It was only in the last year or so that the last of these 50+/- year-old diesels were retired.

Brian Nordem

bnorden49@earthlink.net

I don't remember if it was Sweden or Norway, but they also just recently retired some EMD F unit copies with cabs on each end. Perhaps one could be re-imported. They were standard gauge.

-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a

> I seem to recall from reading a British
> Pulblication that one of the Portuguese ALCO
> road-switchers was being preserved in
> Portugal. It was only in the last year or so
> that the last of these 50+/- year-old
> diesels were retired.

> Brian Nordem


Surviving World Steam Locomotives
james1@pernet.net

Check out the various Alco websites (AlcoWorld, etc). Plenty of export units have been preserved, with Australia seeming to lead the pack in this
area.

Some are also "operationally preserved"-as Pakistan is still running some of the DL-500's in everday service !!!

Aside from gauge differences, many of these units have brakes and couplers that would be incompatible with North American operations.

> I don't remember if it was Sweden or Norway,
> but they also just recently retired some EMD
> F unit copies with cabs on each end. Perhaps
> one could be re-imported. They were standard
> gauge.

> -James Hefner
> Hebrews 10:20a


74471.3045@compuserve.com

> I don't remember if it was Sweden or Norway,
> but they also just recently retired some EMD
> F unit copies with cabs on each end. Perhaps
> one could be re-imported. They were standard
> gauge.

I believe you are referring to those EMD-licensed diesels produced by a Swedish company called Nohab. They look like double-ended (cab) E-units.
They ran in Norway, Denmark, Belgium, and Hungary.


denmeg_hogan@msn.com

Hello All

Interesting discussion here. Another angle to look at is the many diesels formerly of US roads that were exported. There of course are the PA's as discussed at length before, but Mexico also has a set of former NP FT's as I remember, as well as a few other rare ALCo and EMD built rarities. The discussion can also stretch to the dozens (hundreds) of US domestic service passenger cars that were sold off at the end of the streamliner era.

Unfortunately many of these third world countries see Americans coming and smell money, so that these (often) derlict pieces suddenly become "National Treasures" when someone shows interest.

Interestingly enough a friend of mine is into aviaition history and, like old diesels, he said that so many unique vintage airliners went to Mexico and South America to be misused and eventually ruined. I remember him telling me about some pioneer jet aircraft, the last of its kind, that survived into the late 80's in mexico only to be destroyed by fire. Somehow that story sounds familiar.

Dave Crosby

bing@epix.net

I don't want to take us off topic, but I do remember a Lockheed Electra II crashing upon takeoff from Mexico City a few years back. The investigation revealed the plane was overloaded.
The cargo? HORSES.



shawsinoly@aol.com