1.
Electro-Motive Diesel
–
Electro-Motive Diesel is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its subsidiary Progress Rail Services Corporation, in 1930, General Motors purchased Electro-Motive Company and the Winton Engine Co. combining the two to form its Electro-Motive Division in 1941. In 2005, GM sold EMD to Greenbriar Equity Group and Berkshire Partners, in 2010, Progress Rail Services completed the purchase of Electro-Motive Diesel from Greenbriar, Berkshire, and others. EMDs headquarters, engineering facilities and parts manufacturing operations are based in McCook, Illinois, while its final assembly line is located in Muncie. EMD also operates a traction motor maintenance, rebuild and overhaul facility in San Luis Potosí, as of 2008, EMD employed approximately 3,260 people, and in 2010 it held approximately 30 percent of the market for diesel-electric locomotives in North America. Harold L. Hamilton and Paul Turner founded the Electro-Motive Engineering Corporation in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1922, the company developed and marketed self-propelled railcars using General Electrics newly developed internal combustion-electric propulsion and control systems. Hamilton started his career as a fireman, then locomotive engineer, on the Southern Pacific Railroad. Financing himself, he quit his sales position and set up shop in a hotel with his partner. In 1923 EMC sold two gasoline-powered rail motor cars, one to the Chicago Great Western and the other to the Northern Pacific, EMC subcontracted the body construction to St. Louis Car Company, electrical components to General Electric, and the prime mover to Winton Engine Company. The motorcars were delivered in 1924 and worked well, fortunate for the fledgling company, in 1925, EMC entered full-scale production, selling 27 railcars. In 1930 General Motors was seeking to improve their Diesel technology and they purchased the Winton Engine Company who, in addition to their Diesel products, sold non-Diesel engines for EMC-developed rail motorcars. The combined resources of GM and their new Winton subsidiary were focused on developing Diesel engines with improved power-to-weight ratios, GM saw EMCs role in marketing and applications development as fitting their objectives and purchased the company shortly after the Winton acquisition, renaming it Electro-Motive Corporation. In 1933 EMC designed the power setups for the Zephyr and M-10000 streamliners, the Zephyr used the first major product of the new GM-Winton venture, the 600 hp Winton 201A 2-stroke Diesel engine. Encouraged by the success of the new streamliners, EMC invested in a new locomotive factory. The new headquarters on 55th Street in McCook, Illinois, west of Chicago, in 1938 EMC started production of locomotives using GMs new 567 engine, which upgraded the horsepower to 2000 per locomotive unit and increased reliability. The 567, named for its displacement-per-cylinder of 567.45 in³, was a two-cycle Roots-blown, Uniflow-scavenged, Unit-injected engine with overhead camshafts and it was built as a V-6, V-8, V-12 and V-16. Charles F. Kettering and the General Motors Research Corporation were in charge of its development and their nearest competitor was the American Locomotive Company, who started production of less-developed Diesel locomotives to compete with the E-units in 1939. Baldwins response to the challenge of the E-units was to develop a steam locomotive design that pushed beyond the limits of practicality, passenger trains made little money for the railroads, but replacement of steam engines with reliable Diesel units could provide railroads with a crucial difference for profitability
2.
Track gauge
–
In rail transport, track gauge is the spacing of the rails on a railway track and is measured between the inner faces of the load-bearing rails. All vehicles on a network must have running gear that is compatible with the track gauge, as the dominant parameter determining interoperability, it is still frequently used as a descriptor of a route or network. There is a distinction between the gauge and actual gauge at some locality, due to divergence of track components from the nominal. Railway engineers use a device, like a caliper, to measure the actual gauge, the nominal track gauge is the distance between the inner faces of the rails. In current practice, it is specified at a distance below the rail head as the inner faces of the rail head are not necessarily vertical. In some cases in the earliest days of railways, the company saw itself as an infrastructure provider only. Colloquially the wagons might be referred to as four-foot gauge wagons, say and this nominal value does not equate to the flange spacing, as some freedom is allowed for. An infrastructure manager might specify new or replacement track components at a variation from the nominal gauge for pragmatic reasons. Track is defined in old Imperial units or in universally accepted metric units or SI units, Imperial units were established in United Kingdom by The Weights and Measures Act of 1824. In addition, there are constraints, such as the load-carrying capacity of axles. Narrow gauge railways usually cost less to build because they are lighter in construction, using smaller cars and locomotives, as well as smaller bridges, smaller tunnels. Narrow gauge is often used in mountainous terrain, where the savings in civil engineering work can be substantial. Broader gauge railways are generally expensive to build and require wider curves. There is no single perfect gauge, because different environments and economic considerations come into play, a narrow gauge is superior if ones main considerations are economy and tight curvature. For direct, unimpeded routes with high traffic, a broad gauge may be preferable, the Standard, Russian, and 46 gauges are designed to strike a reasonable balance between these factors. In addition to the general trade-off, another important factor is standardization, once a standard has been chosen, and equipment, infrastructure, and training calibrated to that standard, conversion becomes difficult and expensive. This also makes it easier to adopt an existing standard than to invent a new one and this is true of many technologies, including railroad gauges. The reduced cost, greater efficiency, and greater economic opportunity offered by the use of a common standard explains why a number of gauges predominate worldwide
3.
Bogie
–
A bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle, thus serving as a modular subassembly of wheels and axles. Bogies take various forms in various modes of transport, while bogie is the preferred spelling and first-listed variant in various dictionaries, bogey and bogy are also used. A bogie in the UK, or a truck, wheel truck. In Indian English, bogie may also refer to a railway carriage. In South Africa, the bogie is often alternatively used to refer to a freight or goods wagon. The first standard gauge British railway to build coaches with bogies, an alternate configuration often is used in articulated vehicles, which places the bogies under the connection between the carriages or wagons. Most bogies have two axles, but some cars designed for heavy loads have more axles per bogie, heavy-duty cars may have more than two bogies using span bolsters to equalize the load and connect the bogies to the cars. Suspension to absorb shocks between the frame and the rail vehicle body, Common types are coil springs, or rubber airbags. At least one wheelset, composed of an axle with bearings and a wheel at each end The bolster, the railway car is supported at the pivot point on the bolster. Axle box suspensions absorb shocks between the bearings and the bogie frame. The axle box suspension usually consists of a spring between the frame and axle bearings to permit up-and-down movement, and sliders to prevent lateral movement. A more modern design uses solid rubber springs, brake equipment, Two main types are used, brake shoes that are pressed against the tread of the wheel, and disc brakes and pads. More modern, bolsterless bogie designs omit these features, instead taking advantage of the movement of the suspension to permit rotational movement. The Commonwealth bogie, manufactured by the English Steel Corporation under licence from the Commonwealth Steel Company in Illinois, fitted with SKF or Timken bearings, it was introduced in the late 1950s for all BR Mark 1 vehicles. It was a heavy, cast-steel design weighing about 6.5 long tons, with sealed roller bearings on the axle ends, the leaf springs were replaced by coil springs running vertically rather than horizontally. The advanced design gave a better quality than the BR1. The side frame of the bogie was usually of bar construction, with simple horn guides attached, the axle boxes had a cast-steel equaliser beam or bar resting on them. The bar had two steel coil springs placed on it and the bogie frame rested on the springs, the effect was to allow the bar to act as a compensating lever between the two axles and to use both springs to soften shocks from either axle
4.
EMD 567
–
The EMD567 is a line of large medium-speed diesel engines built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division. This engine, which succeeded Wintons 201A, was used in EMDs locomotives from 1938 until its replacement in 1966 by the EMD645 and it has a bore of 8 1⁄2 in, a stroke of 10 in and a displacement of 567 cu in per cylinder. Like the 201A, the EMD645 and the EMD710 and it is a V engine with an angle of 45° between cylinder banks. The 710,645, and 567 are the only two-stroke engines commonly used today in locomotives, eugene W. Kettering, son of Charles F. Kettering, joined Winton Engine in 1930. He moved to Detroit in 1936, and was a figure in the development of the 567. He moved to EMD in 1938, became Chief Engineer at EMD in 1948, then Division Director in 1956, although this power increase is not recommended, horsepower-for-horsepower updates are quite successful and common. Because of their age,567 engines are exempt from emissions rules. EMD manufactures a series of 645 power assemblies which are particularly useful in updating these exempt 567 engines. EMDs chief competitor, GE, now makes EMD-compatible replacement parts, all 567 engines are two-stroke 45 degree V-engines. The engine is a design with four poppet-type exhaust valves in the cylinder head. For maintenance, an assembly, consisting of a cylinder head, cylinder liner, piston, piston carrier. The block is made flat, formed and rolled structural steel members. Blocks may, therefore, be repaired, if required. Each bank of cylinders has a camshaft which operates the exhaust valves. The 567 is laid out with engine accessories at the forward end, the blowers and camshafts are at the rear end of the engine, with the blowers mounted above the power take off. All engines have mechanically-controlled unit injectors, see EMD645 for general specifications common to all 567-645-710 engines. All 567 engines utilize forced induction, with either a Roots blower or a turbocharger, at higher engine speeds, increased exhaust gas temperature is sufficient to drive the turbine and the clutch disengages, turning the turbo-compressor system into a true turbocharger. The turbo-compressor can revert to compressor mode momentarily during demands for large increases in output power
5.
Two-stroke engine
–
A two-stroke, or two-cycle, engine is a type of internal combustion engine which completes a power cycle with two strokes of the piston during only one crankshaft revolution. This is in contrast to an engine, which requires four strokes of the piston to complete a power cycle. In a two-stroke engine, the end of the combustion stroke, two-stroke engines often have a high power-to-weight ratio, power being available in a narrow range of rotational speeds called the power band. Compared to four-stroke engines, two-stroke engines have a reduced number of moving parts. The first commercial two-stroke engine involving in-cylinder compression is attributed to Scottish engineer Dugald Clerk, however, unlike most later two-stroke engines, his had a separate charging cylinder. The crankcase-scavenged engine, employing the area below the piston as a pump, is generally credited to Englishman Joseph Day. The first truly practical two-stroke engine is attributed to Yorkshireman Alfred Angas Scott, gasoline versions are particularly useful in lightweight or portable applications such as chainsaws and motorcycles. In a two-stroke engine, the transfer from the engine to the cooling system is less than in a four-stroke. Two-stroke petrol engines are preferred when mechanical simplicity, light weight, the Japanese manufacturer Suzuki did the same in the 1970s. Production of two-stroke cars ended in the 1980s in the West, eastern Bloc countries continued until around 1991, with the Trabant and Wartburg in East Germany. They are also common in power tools used outdoors, such as lawnmowers, chainsaws, with direct fuel injection and a sump-based lubrication system, a two-stroke engine produces air pollution no worse than a four-stroke, and it can achieve higher thermodynamic efficiency. Therefore, the cycle has also been used in large diesel engines, most notably large industrial and marine engines, as well as some trucks. Although the principles remain the same, the details of various two-stroke engines differ depending on the type. The design types vary according to the method of introducing the charge to the cylinder, the method of scavenging the cylinder, piston port is the simplest of the designs and the most common in small two-stroke engines. All functions are controlled solely by the covering and uncovering the ports as it moves up. In the 1970s, Yamaha worked out some principles for this system. They found that, in general, widening an exhaust port increases the power by the amount as raising the port. However, there is a limit to the width of a single exhaust port
6.
V16 engine
–
A V16 engine is a V engine with 16 cylinders. Engines of this number of cylinders are uncommon in automotive use, in addition V angles of 45° and 135° give an impulse every 45°, so are optimal solutions, for even-firing and non-split bearing crankshaft journals. V16 engines are used in automobiles because V8s or V12s of the same displacement typically produce just as much power. The few V16s that have produced were used in high-end luxury. Today, the most common applications for V16 engines are railroad locomotives, marine craft, howard Marmon had begun working on the worlds first automotive V16 engine in 1927, but was unable to complete the production Sixteen model until 1931. By that time, Cadillac had already introduced their V16, designed by ex-Marmon engineer Owen Nacker, peerless, too, was developing a V16 with help from another ex-Marmon engineer, James Bohannon. The Cadillac Series 452 was the most exclusive model of the marque from January 1930 until 1940, from 1930 to 1937, Cadillac used a 452 CID, OHV motor with a 45° V. For 1938, a new 431 CID design was introduced for the Series 90, with a flathead valvetrain and an angle of 135°, however, it was never as popular or highly regarded as its 452 CID predecessor. By contrast, the Marmon Sixteen was a 45° engine made almost entirely of aluminium, like modern engines, it used pressed steel cylinder liners. Just 400 Marmon Sixteens were produced between 1931 and 1933 and it began production in 1991 but only a few cars were produced before the company closed its doors for good. Cadillac revived the V16 concept in 2003 with a General Motors concept car and this car used a 1,000 hp OHV V16. BMW also experimented with a V16, eventually showing a 9-litre version in the Rolls-Royce 100EX concept car, however, one of the Rolls-Royce Phantom Coupés which featured in the film Johnny English Reborn is powered by this V16 engine. That was not BMWs first foray into V16, BMW had conceived the Project Goldfish, the BMW Goldfish V16 motor had the displacement of 6. 7-litre, putting out about 408 hp and 637 N·m. That motor was also trialled in the new Bentley Mulsanne in the early 1990s, the first known use of a V16 in auto racing was by Maserati with their 1929 Tipo V4. Harry Miller installed a custom-built V16 that he had built for a Cord supercar he had working on into a chassis that he had built for the 1931 Indianapolis 500 driven by Shorty Cantlon. The car was competitive, charging from 26th on the grid to 3rd, bryan Saulpaugh qualified the car third for the 1932 Indianapolis 500, but the car suffered a broken oil line on lap 55 and their race was over. Shortly after the race the V16 was removed and replaced with a conventional Miller four-cylinder, the car was re-assembled and rebuilt with an exact replica V16 in 1993. The V16 was used in Grand Prix by the mid-engined Auto Union racing cars that rivalled the Mercedes from 1933 to 1938, alfa Romeo made two cars with V16 engine the Tipo 162 and Tipo 316
7.
Diesel engine
–
Diesel engines work by compressing only the air. This increases the air temperature inside the cylinder to such a degree that it ignites atomised diesel fuel that is injected into the combustion chamber. This contrasts with spark-ignition engines such as an engine or gas engine. In diesel engines, glow plugs may be used to aid starting in cold weather, or when the engine uses a lower compression-ratio, the original diesel engine operates on the constant pressure cycle of gradual combustion and produces no audible knock. Low-speed diesel engines can have an efficiency that exceeds 50%. Diesel engines may be designed as either two-stroke or four-stroke cycles and they were originally used as a more efficient replacement for stationary steam engines. Since the 1910s they have used in submarines and ships. Use in locomotives, trucks, heavy equipment and electricity generation plants followed later, in the 1930s, they slowly began to be used in a few automobiles. Since the 1970s, the use of engines in larger on-road and off-road vehicles in the US increased. According to the British Society of Motor Manufacturing and Traders, the EU average for diesel cars accounts for 50% of the total sold, including 70% in France and 38% in the UK. The worlds largest diesel engine is currently a Wärtsilä-Sulzer RTA96-C Common Rail marine diesel, the definition of a Diesel engine to many has become an engine that uses compression ignition. To some it may be an engine that uses heavy fuel oil, to others an engine that does not use spark ignition. However the original cycle proposed by Rudolf Diesel in 1892 was a constant temperature cycle which would require higher compression than what is needed for compression ignition. Diesels idea was to compress the air so tightly that the temperature of the air would exceed that of combustion, to make this more clear, let it be assumed that the subsequent combustion shall take place at a temperature of 700°. Then in that case the pressure must be sixty-four atmospheres, or for 800° centigrade the pressure must be ninety atmospheres. In later years Diesel realized his original cycle would not work, Diesel describes the cycle in his 1895 patent application. Notice that there is no longer a mention of compression temperatures exceeding the temperature of combustion, now all that is mentioned is the compression must be high enough for ignition. In 1806 Claude and Nicéphore Niépce developed the first known internal combustion engine, the Pyréolophore fuel system used a blast of air provided by a bellows to atomize Lycopodium
8.
Engine-generator
–
An engine-generator or portable generator is the combination of an electrical generator and an engine mounted together to form a single piece of equipment. This combination is called an engine-generator set or a gen-set. In many contexts, the engine is taken for granted and the unit is simply called a generator. Engine-generators are available in a range of power ratings. Regardless of the size, generators may run on gasoline, diesel, natural gas, propane, bio-diesel, water, sewage gas or hydrogen. Most of the units are built to use gasoline as a fuel. Some engines may also operate on diesel and gas simultaneously, many engine-generators use a reciprocating engine, with fuels mentioned above. This can be an engine, such as most coal-powered fossil-fuel power plants use. Some engine-generators use a turbine as the engine, such as the gas turbines used in peaking power plants. The generator voltage, frequency and power ratings are selected to suit the load that will be connected, engine-driven generators fueled on natural gas fuel often form the heart of small-scale combined heat and power installations. There are only a few portable three-phase generator models available in the US, most of the portable units available are single-phase generators and most of the three-phase generators manufactured are large industrial type generators. In other countries where power is more common in households, portable generators are available from a few kW. Portable engine-generators may require an external power conditioner to safely operate some types of electronic equipment, small portable generators may use an inverter. Inverter models can run at slower RPMs to generate the power that is necessary, thus reducing the noise of the engine, inverter generators are best to power sensitive electronic devices such as computers and lights that use a ballast. The mid-size stationary engine-generator pictured here is a 100 kVA set which produces 415 V at around 110 A and it is powered by a 6. 7-liter turbocharged Perkins Phaser 1000 Series engine, and consumes approximately 27 liters of fuel an hour, on a 400-liter tank. Diesel engines in the UK can run on red diesel and rotate at 1,500 or 3,000 rpm and this produces power at 50 Hz, which is the frequency used in Europe. In areas where the frequency is 60 Hz, generators rotate at 1,800 rpm or another divisor of 3600, many generators produce enough kilowatts to power anything from a business to a full-sized hospital. These units are particularly useful in providing backup power solutions for companies which have serious economic costs associated with a shutdown caused by an power outage
9.
North America
–
North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea. North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers, about 16. 5% of the land area. North America is the third largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe. In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 565 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7. 5% of the worlds population, North America was reached by its first human populations during the last glacial period, via crossing the Bering land bridge. The so-called Paleo-Indian period is taken to have lasted until about 10,000 years ago, the Classic stage spans roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era ended with the migrations and the arrival of European settlers during the Age of Discovery. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect different kind of interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants, European influences are strongest in the northern parts of the continent while indigenous and African influences are relatively stronger in the south. Because of the history of colonialism, most North Americans speak English, Spanish or French, the Americas are usually accepted as having been named after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci by the German cartographers Martin Waldseemüller and Matthias Ringmann. Vespucci, who explored South America between 1497 and 1502, was the first European to suggest that the Americas were not the East Indies, but a different landmass previously unknown by Europeans. In 1507, Waldseemüller produced a map, in which he placed the word America on the continent of South America. He explained the rationale for the name in the accompanying book Cosmographiae Introductio, for Waldseemüller, no one should object to the naming of the land after its discoverer. He used the Latinized version of Vespuccis name, but in its feminine form America, following the examples of Europa, Asia and Africa. Later, other mapmakers extended the name America to the continent, In 1538. Some argue that the convention is to use the surname for naming discoveries except in the case of royalty, a minutely explored belief that has been advanced is that America was named for a Spanish sailor bearing the ancient Visigothic name of Amairick. Another is that the name is rooted in a Native American language, the term North America maintains various definitions in accordance with location and context. In Canadian English, North America may be used to refer to the United States, alternatively, usage sometimes includes Greenland and Mexico, as well as offshore islands
10.
Saudi Arabia
–
Saudi Arabia is bordered by Jordan and Iraq to the north, Kuwait to the northeast, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates to the east, Oman to the southeast and Yemen to the south. It is separated from Israel and Egypt by the Gulf of Aqaba and it is the only nation with both a Red Sea coast and a Persian Gulf coast and most of its terrain consists of arid desert and mountains. The area of modern-day Saudi Arabia formerly consisted of four regions, Hejaz, Najd and parts of Eastern Arabia. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was founded in 1932 by Ibn Saud and he united the four regions into a single state through a series of conquests beginning in 1902 with the capture of Riyadh, the ancestral home of his family, the House of Saud. Saudi Arabia has since been a monarchy, effectively a hereditary dictatorship governed along Islamic lines. The ultraconservative Wahhabi religious movement within Sunni Islam has been called the predominant feature of Saudi culture, with its global spread largely financed by the oil and gas trade. Saudi Arabia is sometimes called the Land of the Two Holy Mosques in reference to Al-Masjid al-Haram and Al-Masjid an-Nabawi, the state has a total population of 28.7 million, of which 20 million are Saudi nationals and 8 million are foreigners. The states official language is Arabic, petroleum was discovered on 3 March 1938 and followed up by several other finds in the Eastern Province. Saudi Arabia has since become the worlds largest oil producer and exporter, controlling the second largest oil reserves. The kingdom is categorized as a World Bank high-income economy with a high Human Development Index and is the only Arab country to be part of the G-20 major economies. However, the economy of Saudi Arabia is the least diversified in the Gulf Cooperation Council, the state has attracted criticism for its treatment of women and use of capital punishment. Saudi Arabia is an autocracy, has the fourth highest military expenditure in the world. Saudi Arabia is considered a regional and middle power, in addition to the GCC, it is an active member of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and OPEC. Following the unification of the Hejaz and Nejd kingdoms, the new state was named al-Mamlakah al-ʻArabīyah as-Suʻūdīyah by royal decree on 23 September 1932 by its founder, Abdulaziz Al Saud. Although this is translated as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in English it literally means the Saudi Arab kingdom. Its inclusion expresses the view that the country is the possession of the royal family. Al Saud is an Arabic name formed by adding the word Al, meaning family of or House of, in the case of the Al Saud, this is the father of the dynastys 18th century founder, Muhammad bin Saud. There is evidence that human habitation in the Arabian Peninsula dates back to about 125,000 years ago
11.
Diesel locomotive
–
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotive have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which power is conveyed to the driving wheels. Early internal combustion engine-powered locomotives and railmotors used gasoline as their fuel, soon after Dr. Rudolf Diesel patented his first compression ignition engine in 1892, it was considered for railway propulsion. Progress was slow, however, as several problems had to be overcome, power transmission was a primary concern. As opposed to steam and electric engines, internal combustion engines work efficiently only within a range of turning frequencies. In light vehicles, this could be overcome by a clutch, in heavy railway vehicles, mechanical transmission never worked well or wore out too soon. Experience with early gasoline powered locomotives and railcars was valuable for the development of diesel traction, one step towards diesel-electric transmission was the petrol-electric vehicle, such as the Acsev Weitzer railmotor, which could operate from batteries and electric overhead wires too. Steady improvements in diesel design gradually reduced its size and improved its power-to-weight ratio to a point where one could be mounted in a locomotive. Once the concept of drive was accepted, the pace of development quickened. In 1930, Armstrong Whitworth of the United Kingdom delivered two 1,200 hp locomotives using engines of Sulzer design to Buenos Aires Great Southern Railway of Argentina, currently, almost all diesel locomotives are diesel-electric, although the diesel-hydraulic type was widely used between the 1950s and 1970s. The Soviet diesel locomotive TEP80-0002 lays claim to the speed record for a diesel railed vehicle. In 1894, a 20 h. p. two axle machine built by Priestman Brothers was used on the Hull Docks, in 1896 an oil-engined railway locomotive was built for the Royal Arsenal, Woolwich, England, in 1896, using an engine designed by Herbert Akroyd Stuart. It was not, strictly, a diesel because it used a hot bulb engine, following the expiration of Dr. Rudolf Diesels patent in 1912, his engine design was successfully applied to marine propulsion and stationary applications. However, the massiveness and poor power-to-weight ratio of early engines made them unsuitable for propelling land-based vehicles. Therefore, the potential as a railroad prime mover was not initially recognized. This changed as development reduced the size and weight of the engine, the worlds first diesel-powered locomotive was operated in the summer of 1912 on the Winterthur-Romanshorn Railroad in Switzerland, but was not a commercial success. In 1906, Rudolf Diesel, Adolf Klose and the steam, Sulzer had been manufacturing Diesel engines since 1898. During further test runs in 1913 several problems were found, after the First World War broke out in 1914, all further trials were stopped
12.
General Motors
–
With global headquarters at the Renaissance Center in Detroit, Michigan, United States, GM manufactures cars and trucks in 35 countries. In 2008,8.35 million GM cars and trucks were sold globally under various brands, current auto brands are Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Holden, and Wuling. Former GM automotive brands include McLaughlin, Oakland, Oldsmobile, Pontiac, Hummer, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall, the company was founded by William C. Durant on September 16,1908 as a holding company. The company was the largest automobile manufacturer from 1931 through 2007, in addition to brands selling assembled vehicles, GM also has had various automotive-component and non-automotive brands, many of which it divested in the 1980s through 2000s. General Motors produces vehicles in 37 countries under twelve brands, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Holden, HSV, Opel, Vauxhall, Wuling, Baojun, Jie Fang, and Ravon. The current company, General Motors Company LLC, was formed in 2009 following the bankruptcy of General Motors Corporation, the new company purchased the majority of the assets of the old GM, including the brand General Motors. In addition to its twelve brands, General Motors also holds a 20% stake in IMM, General Motors employs 212,000 people and does business in more than 140 countries. General Motors is divided into five segments, GM North America, Opel Group, GM International Operations, GM South America. General Motors led global vehicle sales for 77 consecutive years from 1931 through 2007, longer any other automaker. General Motors acts in most countries outside the U. S. via wholly owned subsidiaries, GMs OnStar subsidiary provides vehicle safety, security and information services. In 2009, General Motors shed several brands, closing Saturn, Pontiac, and Hummer, in 2010, the reorganized GM made an initial public offering that was one of the worlds top five largest IPOs to date, and returned to profitability later that year. General Motors Corporation was formed on September 16,1908, in Flint, Michigan, GMs co-founder was Charles Stewart Mott, whose carriage company was merged into Buick prior to GMs creation. Over the years, Mott became the largest single stockholder in GM, and spent his life with his Mott Foundation, GM acquired Oldsmobile later that year. In 1909, Durant brought in Cadillac, Elmore, Oakland, also in 1909, GM acquired the Reliance Motor Truck Company of Owosso, Michigan, and the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company of Pontiac, Michigan, the predecessors of GMC Truck. Durant, along with R. S. McLaughlin, lost control of GM in 1910 to a bankers trust, because of the amount of debt taken on in its acquisitions. The next year, Durant started the Chevrolet Motor Car Company in the U. S. and in Canada in 1915, Durant took back control of the company after one of the most dramatic proxy wars in American business history. Durant then reorganized General Motors Company into General Motors Corporation in 1916, merging Chevrolet with GM, shortly thereafter, he again lost control, this time for good, after the new vehicle market collapsed. These facilities were added to the factories that were exclusive to Cadillac, Buick, Oldsmobile, Oakland
