by Allen Hazen
GE's "U-series" diesel locomotives before the U25B were export locomotives, but the UD18B of 1956 was a standard gauge unit of North American dimensions: in principle, I would think it COULD have been a competitor for the GP-9 and RS-11 in the U.S. domestic market. Greg McDonnell's "The U-Boats," however, reports that the first pair built, after testing (with GE reporting marks) on the Erie were sent to Mexico to demonstrate; NdeM bought them and followed by buying the only production order (8 units late in the same year).
Does anyone know if GE ***tried*** to market this model domestically? (I think they may have been a few tons lighter than average GP-9 or RS-11, so perhaps some granger road with lightly-built branch lines and a catholic appetite for diesels from multiple builders -- I'm thinking of CRI&P and CMStP&P here -- might have been interested.)
If not, was there a good reason why not? (Something technical I don't know about, maybe, or maybe when GE and Alco cancelled the Alco-GE sales consortium they signed some sort of non-competition agreement?)
Does anyone know if GE ***tried*** to market this model domestically? (I think they may have been a few tons lighter than average GP-9 or RS-11, so perhaps some granger road with lightly-built branch lines and a catholic appetite for diesels from multiple builders -- I'm thinking of CRI&P and CMStP&P here -- might have been interested.)
If not, was there a good reason why not? (Something technical I don't know about, maybe, or maybe when GE and Alco cancelled the Alco-GE sales consortium they signed some sort of non-competition agreement?)