11-03-2009, 10:31 AM
My favorite shortline is the Arkansas & Missouri. They are a 100% Alco road using C420s for road power, and T-6's for local switching. When asked by either Trains or Railroad and Railfan magazine back in the early 1990's or late 1980's why they chose Alcos, their answer was that the used Alcos were about 1/3 the price of used EMD units. For the same price, they could buy 3 times as many Alcos and then cannibalize 2/3's for spare parts to keep 1/3 running.