Diesel-Electric Locomotives

The diesel-electric locomotive offered many advantages over its steam-powered counterpart. It needed less maintenance, used less fuel and could be operated with a smaller crew. It also didn't require expensive support structures like roundhouses, coaling towers and water tanks. After World War II, the "dieselization" of American railroads was rapid. Of the 21,000 new locomotives bought between 1945 and 1955, fully 95 percent were diesel-electric.