by Allen Hazen
I'd like to have an idea of how locomotive prices have changed over the years: a bit more detailed than "ever upwards"! Ideally I'd like a table with prices for representative locomotive types at, say, 5 year intervals from the beginnings of dieselization to the present. Information of this sort is VERY hard to come by, at least in reailfan sources: big companies seem to be on the coy side when it comes to talking about dollars and cents. Anyway, for a start I have:
---Late 1940s, Alco RS-1 light roadswitcher: $80,000 (quoted on the "EMD locomotives with Alco trucks string on this forum).
---1958, switchers: $110,000 for an SW-900, $124,000 for an SW-1200 (but EMD would re-engine a Baldwin switcher for you for about $63,000, the BLW switcher being worth around $5,000 in scrap value). (From an article on Reading's re-engined switchers, in the March-April 1996 issue of "Diesel Era".)
---1963, GP-30: $206,000, probably including assorted optional extras (quoted on the "EMD locomtives with Alco trucks" string).
---1972, high-horsepower BB freight units. EMD quoted Chessie $238,000 base price, $270,673 with extras for GP40-2, offering trade-ins from $3,000 for an off-brand switcher to $20,500 for an F-7 or GP-7 (which would have re-usable trucks). GE quoted $255,800 base, $285,000 with extras for a U30B, offering trade-ins of from $7,000 (for switchers) to $13,500 (for six-axle Alcos with lots of re-usable GE electrical gear) to $18,000 for F-7 or GP-7. (Source: James Mischke, in a June 2003 posting to Yahoo's "LocoNotes" forum.)
---June 1977: high-horsepower CC freight units: BN paid $575,885 for C30-7 and their C&S subsidiary paid $565,602 for SD40-2. This is all inclusive, with no trade-in allowance; "The next two C30-7 orders that year were over $600,000, EMD did not pass that level until 1978." (Source; "Wolfgang Luth" in a June 2003 posting to "LocoNotes": message #34677 includes this and the previous.) COMMENT: I recall, from when I was first getting seriously interested in railroading in the early 1970s, an article in "Trains" saying that CC units typically cost about 20% more than BB, but even so we seem ot have five years of double-digit inflation in the mid-1970s. Which, come to think of it, maybe we did!
---Late 1940s, Alco RS-1 light roadswitcher: $80,000 (quoted on the "EMD locomotives with Alco trucks string on this forum).
---1958, switchers: $110,000 for an SW-900, $124,000 for an SW-1200 (but EMD would re-engine a Baldwin switcher for you for about $63,000, the BLW switcher being worth around $5,000 in scrap value). (From an article on Reading's re-engined switchers, in the March-April 1996 issue of "Diesel Era".)
---1963, GP-30: $206,000, probably including assorted optional extras (quoted on the "EMD locomtives with Alco trucks" string).
---1972, high-horsepower BB freight units. EMD quoted Chessie $238,000 base price, $270,673 with extras for GP40-2, offering trade-ins from $3,000 for an off-brand switcher to $20,500 for an F-7 or GP-7 (which would have re-usable trucks). GE quoted $255,800 base, $285,000 with extras for a U30B, offering trade-ins of from $7,000 (for switchers) to $13,500 (for six-axle Alcos with lots of re-usable GE electrical gear) to $18,000 for F-7 or GP-7. (Source: James Mischke, in a June 2003 posting to Yahoo's "LocoNotes" forum.)
---June 1977: high-horsepower CC freight units: BN paid $575,885 for C30-7 and their C&S subsidiary paid $565,602 for SD40-2. This is all inclusive, with no trade-in allowance; "The next two C30-7 orders that year were over $600,000, EMD did not pass that level until 1978." (Source; "Wolfgang Luth" in a June 2003 posting to "LocoNotes": message #34677 includes this and the previous.) COMMENT: I recall, from when I was first getting seriously interested in railroading in the early 1970s, an article in "Trains" saying that CC units typically cost about 20% more than BB, but even so we seem ot have five years of double-digit inflation in the mid-1970s. Which, come to think of it, maybe we did!
