Diesel Engine Progress (Continued from Page 71) the eastern districts where coal is proportionally cheap. Most of the en- gines are sold in western districts where the real oil industry is located. A great number of engines are used in ship propulsion. For real large units—if they should be built—the field to a great extent has yet to be opened. Obviously large diesel en- gines will be used in power houses as standbys to take care of ‘“‘peak loads.” The diesel locomotive has a special significance for America. It must come to pass under any condition in a few years, not only in small but also in large units, as soon as laws, which are now in preparation, prohibiting the use of the steam locomotive in the environs of the large cities, are en- acted. The first motor locomotive in the form of a rail car was put in op- eration in 1917 in the General Electric works, Schenectady, N. Y., with a gas- oline engine of 300 horsepower. This unit which had electric tranmission to the wheels, performed well as a switch engine. Since then diesel locomotives with Ingersoll-Rand diesels of 600 horsepower have been built and de- livered by the American Locomotive Co. One of these locomotives which we inspected had worked excellently. The four-cycle deisel engine resembles our German types although it is less developed and very heavy. Never- theless, one gains the impression that some experience in this direction has been gained. Any noise from the ex- haust and from the working parts was hardly audible outside so that the loco- motive engineer was able to pick up all orders necessary for handling the engine. We have been told that twelve of these locomotives for switching service are already being used and that fifteen hundred dollars per month is being saved on each locomotive. In the meantime a fur- ther commitment of one hundred lo- comotives is under way in the same factory. The firm of J. G. Brill of Phila- delphia has made considerable prog- ress in the field of railroad motor ears. One hundred rail cars have al- ready been manufactured by it. The experience with this type of vehicle has been excellent and is encouraging to further exploitation. These rail cars are used principally in the United States to handle traffic between smaller cities, suburbs, etc., and in larger cities connecting with the main lines. Here the need of a diesel engine of equal power and reliability as the highly developed gasoline engine, is deeply felt. In general, it may be said that the 122 cern of any factory. diesel engine in America has reached a high point of development, but never- theless, it will take several years be- fore it will be as highly developed as engines of European, and especially of German origin. But one should not forget that there are in America, first class plants building diesel en- gines and these firms are displaying in their developments and simplicity of style, all the energy and courage which have been in evidence in other Amer- ican enterprises. America, however, will have to utilize further and to a larger extent, German science and German spirit as a basis for her work. There is much scientific research work to be done and there are problems in the field of the large diesel en- gines, as well as the light weight oil engine to be solved, particularly in the latter, as Americans have been too much accustomed to build and con- struct heavily as mentioned above. American industry is conscious of the difficulties in building high grade en- gines of the lowest weight, a necessity for locomotives and motor cars, and therefore America will need in the future more than ever, the co-opera- tion of European and especially of German firms and the use of their experience. Frequently we find here in Ger- many the inclination to overestimate American achievements and to imitate slavishly American example. To give way to this disposition is just as wrong in my opinion as to ignore all the good which the Americans have so far ac- complished. Indeed the ideal to be ob- tained is everywhere pursued with ardent fervor in order to find the best solution in the simplest way, and in this Americans are aided in a natural way by their practical disposition and sound common sense. In this respect “Americanization’”? means to me noth- ing more than simplification. Al- though our field of possibilities in selling engines does not justify mass production as known in the United States, it cannot be denied that we ought to work in a more methodical way, as the trend of the _ times now demands. Concerning the rational utilization of production facilities, we should be diligent and congenial, work, eliminate all unproductive tasks and _ obtain “frictionless co-operation” between of- fice and shops. The influence of the latter is today surely the main con- Germany can still learn many things from Ameri- cans. I may not close this article with- out mentioning that in all the firms I have visited I have met with a re- ception which one could not imagine being more courteous. The manage- MARINE REVIEW—July, 1928 ments of the plants were willing to show every detail of the work, with total absence of secrecy. It would stimulate the maintenance of agree- able relations with American indus- try to treat visitors from the United States kindly and appreciatively. I have heard repeatedly that the con- trary has been experienced by Ameri- cans. It has been a great pleasure to me to find that German industry gen- erally, and the M. A. N. especially, is enjoying high esteem. Comments on This Article By J. Barraja-Frauenfelder Doctor Lauster, to begin with, at- tributes the hesitation in the develop- ment of the diesel industry in the United States to the fact that this type of prime mover has proven to be too complicated for American op- erating conditions and in fact even too difficult for ordinary production. Noth- ing could be further from the facts. This hesitation, if it actually exists, is due to entirely different reasons. To assert that the diesel engine is too much for American ingenuity and re- sourcefulness is to deny at one stroke all the accomplishments, which by sheer use of these qualities, have been obtained in the automotive field, to mention one outstanding industry which is of a similar character as the diesel engine industry. The hesitation, if any, is due, first to the fact that it is a slow process, under no matter what conditions, to displace a firmly rooted industry devoted to the manu- facture of one kind of prime movers, such as steam, with a newer industry which aims at supplanting the old or- der of things. If this process of dis- placement is stimulated by necessity then progress is faster, as evidenced by German and European achieve- ments in this field. When a vital necessity does not seem to exist, as in the United States, then progress is slower. I have said that a_ vital necessity does not seem to exist in the United States advisedly; the neces- sity does exist, but it is not so fully in evidence as it is in Europe. A second strong influence militating against the development of the diesel engine in this country is the apathy if not the antagonism of the public utility companies. It is a known fact that a public utility installation must be composed of very large steam units to be economical. This is not so with the diesel engine, as this type of engine is about equally efficient in small as well as large units. Prac- tically the same fuel economy can be obtained with a 250 horsepower gen- erating set as with a 10,000 horse- power set. The minute the public utilities accept the diesel engine, as