From Steam to Diesel P1

Diesels were more adaptable, however, ensuring that fewer designs couldserve a wider variety of applications. This versatility, combined with highresearch and development costs, meant that diesels could be most efficientlyproduced in large batches to standardized designs.
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From Steam to Diesel P1FROM STEAM TO DIESELPRINCETON STUDIES IN BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGYSERIES EDITORDAVID HOUNSHELLBefore the Computer: Mechanical Information Processing in theUnited States, 1865–1956, James W. CortadaPolitics and Industrialization: Early Railroads in the United Statesand Prussia, Colleen A. DunlavyFROM STEAM TO DIESELMANAGERIAL CUSTOMS ANDORGANIZATIONAL CAPABILITIESI N T H E T W E N T I E T H-C E N T U R YAMERICAN LOCOMOTIVE INDUSTRYAlbert J. ChurellaPRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS P R I N C E T O N, N E W J E R S E YCopyright  1998 by Princeton University PressPublished by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street,Princeton, New Jersey 08540In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press,Chichester, West SussexAll Rights ReservedLibrary of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataChurella, Albert J.From steam to diesel : managerial customs and organization capabilities in thetwentieth-century American locomotive industry / Albert J. Churella.p. cm.Includes bibliographical references and index.ISBN 0-691-This book has been composed in CaledoniaPrinceton University Press books are printedon acid-free paper and meet the guidelinesfor permanence and durability of the Committeeon Production Guidelines for Book Longevityof the Council on Library Resourceshttp://pup.princeton.eduPrinted in the United States of America10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1ContentsAcknowledgments viiIntroduction 3I. Steam vs. Diesel: Capabilities and Requirementsof a Radically New Technology 10II. Internal-Combustion Railcars: Springboard to Participationin the Diesel Locomotive Industry 23III. First-Mover Advantages and the DecentralizedCorporation 000IV. ALCo and Baldwin: Established Companies,New Technologies 000V. Policy and Production during World War II 000VI. Postwar Dieselization and Industry Shakeout 000VII. The Era of Oligopoly 000Conclusion 000Notes 000Bibliography 000Index 000This page intentionally left blankAcknowledgmentsAS THIS BOOK is a revision of my doctoral dissertation, I am deeply indebtedto my adviser, Mansel Blackford. Without his insightful guidance and pa-tient understanding, my interest in this project would never have come tofruition. K. Austin Kerr and William Childs have also given generously oftheir time and advice in seminars and through individual consultation. Iappreciate greatly the comments and suggestions made by David Hounshelland Steven Usselman. Their insights have helped me to see the shortcom-ings in my original dissertation as I have worked to transform it into a book.I have had the opportunity to develop my study of the locomotive industryin a recent article in the Business History Review, and I am grateful to thatjournal for permitting me to reprint portions of that article in this work.Conferences of the Business History Society, the Society for the History ofTechnology, the Economic and Business Historical Society, and the OhioAcademy of History have also provided a forum for my work during itsformative stages. This book has absorbed many hours of archival research. Unfortunately,since General Motors and General Electric are still actively competing inthe diesel locomotive industry, their records are not open to scholars. Fur-thermore, when the old steam locomotive builders left the industry, railroadenthusiasts and historians often saved a treasure trove of locomotive photo-graphs, drawings, and blueprints, but could not preserve correspondence,memoranda, reports, or other written sources. To the extent that they wereable to do so, I am eternally grateful. In particular, I would like to thankrailroad historians and experts Jim Mischke and Wallace Abbey for givingme expert technical advice on the locomotive industry and its products. The research for this book was made possible by the generous assistanceof librarians, archivists, and scholars throughout the United States. Thosewho have helped include Tab Lewis and James Cassedy at the NationalArchives in Washington; Gregory J. Plunges at the National Archives,Northeast Region; Beverly Watkins at the National Archives, Great LakesRegion; Elaine Fidler and Ron Wiercioch at the U.S. Department of Justice;Joyce Koeneman and Andrea Cheney at the Association of American Rail-roads Library; Mark Cedeck, Curator of the John W. Barriger III Collectionat the St. Louis Mercantile Association Library; Charles Bates and JohnKeller at the Allen County (Ohio) Historical Society; Jim Bachorz at theAmerican Locomotive Historical Society; Sharon Nelson at the Pennsylva-nia State Archives; George Deeming at the Railroad Museum of Pennsyl-vania; Connie Menninger at the Kansas State Historical Society; Deniseviii ACKNOWLEDGMENTSConklin at the Pattee Library of the University of Pennsylvania; ChristopherBaer, Lynn Catanese, and Marjorie McNinch at the Hagley Museum andLibrary; the staff of the George Arents Research Library at Syracuse Univer-sity; the staff of the Minnesota Historical Society in St. Paul; RichardScharchburg and Bruce Watson at the General Motors Institute; GeorgeWise at General Electric, L. Dale Patterson at the University of Louisville;Bridget Burke at the Smithsonian Institution; Blaine Lamb at the CaliforniaState Ra ...