Electro-Motive Diesel is a brand of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. Formerly a division of General Motors, EMD has been owned by Progress Rail since 2010.
Electro-Motive Diesel traces its roots to the Electro-Motive Engineering Corporation, founded in 1922 and purchased by General Motors in 1930. After purchase by GM, the company was known as GM's Electro-Motive Division. In 2005, GM sold EMD to Greenbriar Equity Group and Berkshire Partners, and in 2010, EMD was sold to Progress Rail. Upon the 2005 sale, the company was renamed to Electro-Motive Diesel.
1920s gasoline-electric railcar
Burlington Zephyr, powered by EMC diesel-electric drive
EMC E1, one of EMC's earliest standard production model locomotives
FT demonstrator unit EMD 103 at the California State Railroad Museum in 1991
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the power source 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 most common are diesel-electric locomotives and diesel-hydraulic.
The ČKD ČME3, a common example of a diesel shunting locomotive
The InterCity 125 set a speed record – 148 mph (238 km/h) – for a diesel-powered train in 1987. Capable of 125 mph (201 km/h) in regular service, the train consists of two power cars with either seven or eight carriages between them.
These locomotives operated by Pacific National in Australia show three styles of diesel locomotive body: cab unit (front), hood unit, and flat-nose (rear).
Petrol–electric Weitzer railmotor, first 1903, series 1906
