Re: Trivia question: Diesel loco crossing the Atlantic

Let's face it: used diesels are nearly a dime a dozen here. Except for museum purposes (such as the streetcars exported to South America and then brought back to the USA decades later for use in museums) there would be no real advantage to bringing a locomotive back here. For the prices that it is possible to buy a used diesel, it is hard to imagine it making economic sense to ship one all the way back here.

The other problem is gauges. Many USA made diesels went to Africa ( some meter gauge, lots of 3 ft 6 in gauge) or a few in India (five foot 6 inch gauge) or South America (meter gauge, 1.6 meter guage, five foot 6 inch gauge, and some standard gauge). Therefore, there are only a few select places where an export unit would be operable on track in the USA if it ever came back. Some meter gauge and 1.6 meter gauge units in Brazil are "off the shelf" USA units with different gauge trucks, but the conversion would still be an expense.

Loading gauge is also a problem. GE's "Little Joe's" fit the Milwaukee Road, Chicago South Shore and South Bend, and the 1.6 meter gauge lines around São Paulo. However, I doubt they would be able to run one of those on the Northeast Corridor. The line side clearance is too narrow. I think this goes for some of the other stock used on the 1.6 meter and five foot 6 inch gauge lines.

They wouldn't be able to because the Little Joes were 1.5kv (then 3.0kv) DC units, the NEC is 11kv 25hz AC :)

Well, the only possible cases are US Army (USATC) locos making the ocean cross two times, as far as I can guess (some of the first ALCos going to Russia in the World War II through Iran could come again back in US soil, but I doubt if these would leave again - too worn down). Most steam locos that crossed the ocean (like the USATC S-160 locos rusting in Greece and elsewhere) crossed the ocean only once.

And I remember some big diesel locos returning to USA from Australia (Hammersley Iron?) when they upgraded to the newest stock.

Except if there was a rebuilding project like the one with the Greek MLWs... A-504 was the prototype of the rebuilding program in NERC. I suspect this is really the first diesel loco crossing three times the Atlantic...

This is a problem for us interested in modelling them, too, but that's a whole another story. Let's hope there are enough prospective modelers for the latest EMD export locos (like the European class66 and the Indian GTW42Rs), to give some diesel variety here...

At least, we're preparing a book about Greek trains, with lots of US and Canada-made locos roaming the Greek landscape - stay tuned for an announcement in a few months.

Regards from not-so-hot Athens, Nick the railfan.

Did the US government return the Alco RS-1 they took from the Rock Island for the Trans-Iranian RR after the War?

Eric

James Rob It's possible, but I can't think of a reference. There have been locomotives that crossed the ocean twice, but I can't think of any that made the additional trip. In past, locomotives shipped out of North America tended to be specialized designs with light axle loadings. This meant that there was usually no interest in bringing them back, since they weren't usable on North American railways. If a used locomotive was exported, then it was usually because it was no longer wanted, so again there was little motivation to ship it back.

These were not returning as they were built in Oz by the local licencee of EMD (Clyde Engineering) and are based on SD50 model.

OK, I stand corrected. Then, it seems no diesel loco crossed 3 times the Atlantic (ok, the Flying Scotchman steam locomotive may be an exception to this, but this ain't no diesel ;-) )

N.F.

Nick, The Hammersley Iron SD50s which went to the U.S.A.were built by Clyde in Adelaide in 1980.They and the Alcos which went to Minnesota Commercial Railroad are the only Aust locos to go in the reverse direction to America. I was in Greece in Feb-March 1976 & chased the remaining steam locos and the diesel locos. As I did not go east of Salonica I did not see the N.S,W,48 class look alikes. I am looking forward to the Greek rail book. Jeff

Nick, The Hammersley Iron SD50s which went to the U.S.A.were built by Clyde in Adelaide in 1980.They and the Alcos which went to Minnesota Commercial Railroad are the only Aust locos to go in the reverse direction to America. I was in Greece in Feb-March 1976 & chased the remaining steam locos and the diesel locos. As I did not go east of Salonica I did not see the N.S,W,48 class look alikes. I am looking forward to the Greek rail book. Jeff

Any references?

That makes two trips, and the topic was about the first diesel loco crossing the Atlantic (not the Pacific) three times :-) OK, I was the one muttering "Flying Scotsman", so sue me :-)

After all, someone may have something more concrete to unearth.

N.F.

Drat... my map must be out of date. When did they move China and Korea to the Atlantic Ocean? I thought they were on the Pacific Ocean and the China Sea.

Darn plate tectonics anyway.....

-dave

It also visited Australia - depending upon routes taken, it may well have crossed the Atlantic 3 times.

Regards, Greg.P.

Must have floated round - like the rubber ducks :-)

Jim.

An Erie Pacific & some C & O 2-8-0s ,as well as a Pershing 2-8-0 made the journey to South Korea.The Pershing 2-8-0 was returned to Green Bay Museum in 1959. A former Missouri Pacific Shay was sold to the Phillipines in the

Geez, I was just asking what I thought was a somewhat related question, shoot me. Sorry I was so off topic, asking about steam locomotives going across the Pacific, instead of diesels going across the Atlantic. I guess I should have included politics or Iraq, Al Qaeda, Bill Clinton, George Bush or something totally irrelevant to this Newsgroup. Next time I won't ask. Jeff

Don't take it personally, no offense meant.... some joke set-ups are simply too good to pass up. I knew what you were trying to do/say... I just didn't have anything meaninful to add so I thought I'd burn some of everybody's bandwidth with a lame joke.

If you knew me better you would take me far less seriously....

-dave

Dave Curtis wrote in article=20

Dave I don't know you and I don't take you seriously at all! = ;-)

I believe they went to Alaska.I have got not a ready reference to Alaska R.R.locos so I do not know the nos concerned. Jeff