Author Description

Following up on the success of its streamlined main line passenger diesels in the late 1930s, Electro-Motive Corp. challenged the century-long dominance of steam locomotives in freight service. The vehicle for this attack was a four-unit A-B-B-A demonstrator set of a new model, the FT. When it finished an 11-month, 83,064 mile tour over 20 railroads in 1939-1940, the contest was already over. Only the urgency of World War II traffic demands stood between the great steam fleet and the scrap yard. 250+ photographs with a four-color cover printed on heavyweight stock.