Anti-railway conspiracies
If you've ever suspected Dr Beeching wasn't playing fair read this. Although partial to steam engines, it's internal combustion that I really like. It seems that much more accessible to me and oil based fuels still seem to pack the most bang-per-buck-by volume, which is critical for automotive transport. But sometimes I come across stories where petrol and diesel powered machines were promoted for political reasons. One collection of these was The Great Railway Conspiracy , in which David Henshaw gathers evidence on deliberate policies to make railways unusable before citing lack of use as a reason for closing lines down. But I recently came across a reference to another anti-steam engine conspiracy. It was in A E Durrant's book on The Mallet Locomotive . It would appear that in the USA diesel engines were promoted by the oil companies, whose political might was sufficient to ensure that the operating companies remained fragmented and offer a united challenge ...