A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels.
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and Santa Fe, New Mexico. The railroad reached the Kansas–Colorado border in 1873 and Pueblo, Colorado, in 1876. To create a demand for its services, the railroad set up real estate offices and sold farmland from the land grants that it was awarded by Congress.
The EMD GP30 is a 2,250 hp (1,680 kW) four-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois between July 1961 and November 1963. A total of 948 units were built for railroads in the United States and Canada, including 40 cabless B units for the Union Pacific Railroad.
The Virginia and Truckee Railroad is a privately owned historical heritage railroad, headquartered in Virginia City, Nevada. Its private and publicly owned route is 14 miles long. The railroad owns and uses the service mark "Queen of the Short Lines". The V&T Railroad runs up to seven trains per day, many in steam behind locomotive #29, a 2-8-0 Consolidation, or an ex-US Army GE 80-ton diesel from Virginia City, from Memorial Day until the end of October each year.
The GE 44-ton switcher is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Electric between 1940 and 1956. It was designed for industrial and light switching duties, often replacing steam locomotives that had previously been assigned these chores. This locomotive's specific 44-short ton weight was directly related to one of the efficiencies the new diesel locomotives offered compared to their steam counterparts: reduced labor intensity. In the 1940s, the steam to diesel transition was in its infancy in North America, and railroad unions were trying to protect the locomotive fireman jobs that were redundant with diesel units. One measure taken to this end was the 1937 so-called "90,000 Pound Rule" : a stipulation that locomotives weighing 90,000 pounds (41,000 kg) – 45 short tons – or more required a fireman in addition to an engineer on common carrier railroads. Industrial and military railroads had no such stipulation. The 44-ton locomotive was born to skirt this requirement. Other manufacturers also built 44-ton switchers of center-cab configuration. 276 examples of this locomotive were built for U. S. railroads and industrial concerns, four were exported to Australia in 1944, 10 were exported to Canada, 10 were exported to Cuba, one was exported to the Dominican Republic, five were exported to France, three were exported to India, six were exported to Mexico, five were exported to Saudi Arabia, one was exported to Sweden, two were exported to Trinidad, 10 were exported to Uruguay, and 57 were built for the U. S. Military. Many remain, in service and in museums.
The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, often abbreviated as the D&SNG, is a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge heritage railroad that operates on 45.2 mi (72.7 km) of track between Durango and Silverton, in the U.S. state of Colorado. The railway is a federally-designated National Historic Landmark and was also designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1968.
The Nevada Southern Railroad Museum is a railroad museum in Boulder City, Nevada operated by the Nevada State Railroad Museum which is an agency of the Nevada Department of Tourism and Cultural Affairs. The railway is located on the tracks that were installed to support construction activities at the Hoover Dam. The state obtained the tracks and right of way from the Union Pacific Railroad in 1985.
The GE 70-ton switcher is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Electric between about 1942 and 1955. It is classified as a B-B type locomotive. The first series of "70 tonners" were a group of seven center-cab locomotives built for the New York Central Railroad in November 1942. These units differ from the later end-cab versions. Locomotives exported to Brazil were known as GE 64T and nicknamed "scooters".
The Trona Railway is a 30.5 mi (49.1 km) short-line railroad owned by Searles Valley Minerals. The TRC interchanges with the Union Pacific Railroad at Searles, California.
The Santa Maria Valley Railroad is a 14.8 miles (23.8 km) shortline railroad that interchanges with the Union Pacific Railroad's Coast Line at Guadalupe, California. As of 2006, the Railroad is owned by the Coast Belle Rail Corporation.
The GE 80-ton switcher is a diesel-electric locomotive model built by GE Transportation Systems. It is classified as a B-B type locomotive. It was designed for industrial and light switching duties around railheads and ports.
The GE 45-ton switcher is a 4-axle diesel locomotive built by General Electric between 1940 and 1956.
The Museum of the American Railroad, formerly known as the Age of Steam Railroad Museum, is a railroad museum in Frisco, Texas. The museum has a large collection of steam, diesel, passenger, and freight railroad equipment, and is noted for allowing guests to walk through some of the equipment on guided tours. The President and CEO is Bob LaPrelle who has worked there for over 30 years now. It was established in 1963 for the Texas State Fair as the Southwest Railroad Historical Society. The collection accounts for over 70 trains; also in the collection are multiple historic structures.
The Fort Eustis Military Railroad is an intra-plant United States Army rail transportation system existing entirely within the post boundaries of the United States Army Transportation Center and Fort Eustis (USATCFE), Fort Eustis, Virginia. It has served to provide railroad operation and maintenance training to the US Army and to carry out selected material movement missions both within the post and in interchange with the US national railroad system via a junction at Lee Hall, Virginia. It consists of 31 miles (50 km) of track broken into three subdivisions with numerous sidings, spurs, stations and facilities.
The Rio Grande Scenic Railroad of Colorado, owned by Iowa Pacific Holdings of Chicago, was a heritage railway that operated from 2006 to 2019 in and around the San Luis Valley, on trackage of the San Luis and Rio Grande Railroad. Located 200 miles (320 km) south of Denver, Colorado, the Rio Grande Scenic Railroad operated between Alamosa and La Veta. This 4 ft 8+1⁄2 instandard gauge route, featuring a climb over the Sangre de Cristo Mountains via Veta Pass, dates back to 1899 and is a successor to the original 3 ft narrow gauge La Veta Pass line of the Denver and Rio Grande Railway, completed in 1878. In keeping with the Denver & Rio Grande Western slogan Scenic Line of the World, the trip between Alamosa and La Veta offered views of several of Colorado’s 14,000-foot (4,300 m) peaks. The railroad ceased operating excursions following a wildfire that damaged some of their facilities, as well as the parent company SLRG entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late 2019.
The Yuma Project is a U.S. Bureau of Reclamation project built to irrigate over 68,000 acres (280 km2) of land in Yuma County, Arizona and parts of Imperial County, California. The project is designed to exploit year-round farming conditions and water from the Colorado River. It consists of the Laguna Diversion Dam, pumping plants, a power plant, a 53-mile (85 km) system of canals, 218 miles (351 km) of lateral canals, levees and drains. The project began in 1903 and the majority of the work was completed by 1915. It was the first dam and reclamation project on the Colorado River and workers had to overcome many natural and logistical obstacles to build and maintain it. The Laguna Diversion Dam was replaced by the Imperial Dam as the Project's water source between 1941 and 1948. Today, it serves 275 farms and over 94,000 people.
The Colebrookdale Railroad, also known as the Secret Valley Line, is a tourist railroad located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. The railroad operates between Boyertown in Berks County and Pottstown in Montgomery County.
Southern Prairie Railway is a tourist railway operated by the Ogema Heritage Railway Association (OHRA) in Ogema, Saskatchewan.
The GE 25-ton switcher is a model of diesel-electric switcher locomotive that was produced by GE Transportation at their Erie, Pennsylvania facility between 1941 and 1974. Most examples were produced for industrial customers or the United States Armed Forces, although a number of examples were purchased by freight railroads as well. The majority of production was for customers in the United States and Canada, but export models were produced for buyers on five continents. Production totaled approximately 550 units over 33 years, making it one of the most widely produced switchers in American history.
