2024年11月10日 · Diesel locomotives, technically known as diesel-electrics, came into widespread use following development of Electro-Motive Corporation’s (later, General Motors' Electro-Motive Division) EA/EB design, first tested on the Baltimore & …

The legacy of the 1940s diesel locomotive remains significant even today. Many rail systems around the world have completely transitioned to diesel or electric trains, leaving steam behind in history books and museums.

Diesels and line improvements help handle a 175-percent increase in freight traffic on a vital route to the West Coast. A Jack Benny radio gag was just a collection of L.A.-area place names — or was it? CB&Q’s Vista Dome car and GM’s Astra Liner train are forerunners of radically different designs for postwar trains.

2025年1月20日 · During the late 1930s and early 1940s, Union Pacific management, in both the corporate and mechanical departments, became convinced that diesels could handle the more visible, yet lighter-duty, passenger trains, and they found that colorful, comfortable, fast new passenger trains were popular with the public.

Pages in category "Railway locomotives introduced in 1940" The following 23 pages are in this category, out of 23 total. This list may not reflect recent changes.

2023年7月1日 · Remember that steam manufacturers continued to push their products heavily through the mid- to late 1940s, and steam locomotives outnumbered diesels in service into the early 1950s. The first generation of diesels is typified by small, low-horsepower locomotives compared to later eras.

2024年10月28日 · The first four-unit FT was completed in late 1939 and then went on an 11-month tour of the nation demonstrating the locomotive’s capabilities against the best steam engines the railroads had to offer. The tour persuaded 22 railroads to buy FTs.

The “FT 103” also known as “ The diesel that did it” was responsible for retiring steam locomotives once and for all. The locomotive that convinced America's railroads that the diesel-electric freight locomotive, rather than the steam engine, was the future.

The rising tide of diesel locomotives and streamlined passenger trains was largely stilled by the exigencies of war. The conflict thrust unimaginable traffic, both freight and passenger, on the railroads, pushing employees and equipment to the limit.

Any steam engine doesn't develop full power at low speeds, and the bigger engines of that set can pull trains faster. If they're not assigned faster trains, their potential power is being wasted. In that era, lots of 2-8-2s had moved into local service replacing 2-8-0s and some into yard service replacing 0-8-0s.