The Diesel's First 50 Years: A Guide to Diesels Built Before 1972

"This book is a condensed survey of diesel powered railroad locomotives from circa 1920 to 1970, including short histories of manufacturers including railroad shops. Gasoline-engined motive power is included in those instances where diesel power was optional or soon replaced the gas engines. Gas-electric railcars are outside the scope of this book generally, but their diesel powered descendants are covered. Related developments of alternative power sources, notably gas turbines, are covered where they were projects of diesel builders. Locomotives built primarily for export are not covered systematically unless at least some were sold for service on the North American Continent. "Production of any diesel-powered locomotive is presented in tabular format for technical and time-frame data. The emphasis in this book throughout is on illustration, some of it in black and white and much in full color, of the locomotives themselves. These are shown either in standing views or in action, sometimes as both, with informative caption text which contains much of the formidable amount of historical data in the book. The illustrations are selected carefully, and in themselves constitute a visual survey of the development of the diesel locomotive, overwhelmingly of the diesel-electric but also of hydraulic and mechanical drive formats. "The book includes an authoritative survey of the repowering programs, i.e. replacement of original diesel engines with newer ones, which were a phenomenon largely of the Fifties and Sixties. It concludes with an illustrated survey of the principal examples of locomotive trucks, also arranged according to manufacturers, as a necessary feature of the diesel-electric locomotive as it evolved. There is a glossary and an index, concluding a volume of 480 pages, in large horizontal format the better to present photographic documentation of the fascinating diesel locomotive in North America."