Admiral Halsey
Banned
The French were pretty damn set of electrification post-war actually so Chapelon needs to go somewhere else. An old TL of mine had Norfolk and Western decide to keep steam upon reading the paper by H. F. Brown that showed diesels of the period were only equal at best to steam in long term maintenance costs and raw pulling power. Some higher ups hear of Chapelon's work so they visit him in France and see exactly what his engines can do and sign him on for the N&W.(imagine a Y-Class rebuilt by him!)Have the work of Andre Chapelon in France valued and applied universally and have Livio Dante Porta come from Argentina in the late 1940's to work with him, by the mid 1950's French railways are running the most powerful and efficient steam locomotives in the world. Eventually even the Luddites at British Rail pay attention and start to apply some of the modifications and advanced technical innovations to their locomotives. Simply having L.D. Porta's water treatment system taken up and used would have a dramatic effect upon the maintenance costs alone.
The reason I chose N&W as the spot for surviving steam is because they were the last railroad to give up steam for a reason. A ready cheap supply of coal and they were also an in house builder of the own loco's were the perfect conditions for long term survival. Honestly I really should start that TL up again.