This beautifully illustrated, information-packed book, written by an energy expert, allows you to look under the hood of the most modern diesel-electric locomotives through an energy and environment lens.

Introduced in the 1930s, efficient and adaptable diesel locomotives had all but displaced steam locomotives by 1960. This colorful photographic history examines the development, implementation, and operation of diesel locomotives from the gleaming pioneer Zephyrs of the '30s through today's 8000-horsepower beasts. In the course of examining the dawn and preeminence of diesel power, the author offers a glimpse of America's major railways -- both freight and passenger -- in stunning modern and period color photography. Manufacturers like EMD, Alco and GE are included. The final chapter describes the operation and maintenance of modern diesel locomotives, and an appendix lists where rail fans can see restored examples of early diesels today.

A thorough history of the Metropolitan-Vickers locomotive, also known as “Class 28,” featuring 160 color and black & white photos. This book provides an in-depth history of the Metropolitan-Vickers diesel-electric Type 2 locomotives, more frequently known collectively as the “Co-Bo’s” due to their unusual wheel arrangement. Twenty locomotives were constructed during the late-1950s for use on the London Midland Region of British Railways. The fleet was fraught with difficulties from the start, most notably due to problems with their Crossley engines, this necessitating the need for extensive rehabilitation work during the early-1960s. Matters barely improved and the option to completely re-engine the locomotives with English Electric units was debated at length, but a downturn in traffic levels ultimately resulted in their demise by the end of 1968 prior to any further major rebuilding work being carried out. Significant quantities of new archive and personal sighting information, supported by over 180 photographs and diagrams, have been brought together to allow dramatic new insights into this enigmatic class of locomotives, including the whole debate surrounding potential re-engining, their works histories, the extended periods in storage, together with in-depth reviews of the various detail differences and liveries.

This informative, illustrated guide to the British Railways locomotive series covers its full production lifespan, from 1962–1965. In the early 1960s, the Bo-Bo diesel-electric locomotive known as The Clayton was conceived as the new standard for British Railways, superseding other Type 1 classes. While the early classes suffered from poor driver visibility, the Claytons were highly successful and popular with operating crews. However, the largely untested high-speed, flat Paxman engines proved to be highly problematic. As a result, the Claytons were eventually withdrawn from BR service by December 1971. Anthony Sayer draws on considerable amounts of archive material to tell the full story of these ‘Standard Type 1’ locomotives and the issues surrounding their rise and fall. Further sources provide insights into the effort and money expended on the Claytons in a desperate attempt to improve their reliability. Supported by over 280 photographs and diagrams, dramatic new insights into this troubled class have been assembled for both historians and modelers alike.

"This new oversize, full color book is the 'Diesel Spotter's Guide' on steroids. ... After you get Locomotives, you'll WANT to go out and see what's new!" --Railfan and Railroad "This is a field guide that is also elegant, so my advice is this: Buy two copies, and toss one in your car, and put the other one on your coffee table." --Trains Locomotives is the definitive photographic reference for the North American rail fan. It covers all mainline locomotive models built for North American railroads from the mid-1970s onward. This revised and expanded edition includes data on all the new locomotive models built from 2007 to January 2015, including the latest electrics from Siemens and Tier 4 locomotives from General Electrics. Containing 32 new pages, and over 300 photographs of more than 120 models, this remarkable large-format reference covers every locomotive manufacturer. Greg McDonnell provides concise yet comprehensive information on each model, along with easy-to-read tables of production totals, build dates and mechanical specifications.