Re: 1203 and 3 axle trucks

You ask a good question. On our SG tourist line we operated for about 10 years with a six axle diesel. People, supposedly knowledgable, keep saying we need to get a four axle diesel to be gentler on the twists and turns on the line. Just as our original diesel developed some problems we got a four axle diesel. When the "new" diesel moved the "old" one onto our new siding, the six axle loco let out a screech once, when the front truck was on one track and the rear on the other. The four axle diesel? It howled like a banchee from the time the front truck left the main until the rear truck was firmly on the siding. Moral of the story, six axle locos are not necessarily harder on the rail than four axle locos. In fact they may in some cases cause less wear and tear!