Evolution of the American Diesel Locomotive (Railroads Past and Present)

"The full-scale introduction of diesel-powered locomotives into the American railway industry occurred primarily during the fifteen years following World War II. Although this is a relatively short time for such a fundamental change, the actual gestation period of this revolutionary technology had taken much longer. Building on the highly documented segments of this significant sequence of events, J. Parker Lamb's volume provides a comprehensive and coherent narrative of the evolutionary process, one that includes not only the purely technical aspects, but also its economic and social ramifications." "Lamb emphasizes the role of leading engineers whose innovations paved the way for critical breakthroughs. Unlike the steam locomotive evolution that occurred parallel to that of the nation's railway network, the introduction of diesel power represented a revolutionary upheaval for an established sector of the economy and sent shock waves through rigid corporate cultures and staid government regulators. To some it represented the promise of enormous profits from rail operations, while to others it was a disaster that represented the often repeated plight of business enterprises - dealing with the introduction of a labor-saving technology that would have harsh consequences for many of its employees." "With progress on new components occurring simultaneously on several fronts, understanding these precursor (or enabling) technologies is extremely important. In the case of the diesel-electric locomotive, separate developments began early in the twentieth century on three key ingredients. Lamb takes the reader through the development of these three aspects to the level of sophistication that allowed the important process of integrating them into a commercially successful locomotive."--BOOK JACKET.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Nonfiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.