Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Dieselisation


Dieselisation was the replacement of the steam locomotive with the diesel-electric locomotive (often referred to as a diesel locomotive), a process which began in the 1930s and is now substantially complete worldwide.

Dieselisation took place largely because of the reduction in operating costs it allowed. Steam locomotives require large pools of labour to clean, load, maintain and run. They also require extensive service, coaling and watering facilities. Diesel locomotives require significantly less time and labour to operate and maintain.

After World War II, dramatically increased labour costs in the Western World made steam an increasingly costly form of motive power. At the same time, the war had forced improvements in internal combustion engine technology that made diesel locomotives cheaper and more powerful. The post war world also re-aligned the business and financial markets, as did world geo-politics as in the Cold War (1947-1953).

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