Out of Steam

Out of Steam examines how and why American railroads embraced the diesel locomotive and abandoned the steam locomotive that had been the heart and soul of the industry for over a hundred years. It looks at the development of the diesel locomotive, how and why individual railroads decided to adopt the diesel and how the new form of motive power changed railroad operations, business practices, and communities. Railroads generally dieselized to control costs, especially labor costs, but different railroads adopted very different strategies for doing so. Some were prompted to try diesels by government legislation in the 1920s while others were excited by the public relations and marketing benefits of streamlined diesels in the 1930s. Still others were attracted to the potential differences in performance that diesels offered in the 1940s. Despite complete dieselization by 1960, the industry declined for the next twenty years. --