EMD at 100

2 reviews for EMD at 100

1. Rated 5 out of 5

   rickyfreni – January 31, 2024

   This Program features the timeline of Electro-Motive Division from the first Doodlebug motor cars, to today’s SD90MACs. Along the way, there are Lots & Lots of still images of posters, magazine ads, & even vintage films which includes some steam on the Durango & Silverton, Santa Fe with 3759, NYC, UP with some present day clips of Big Boy 4014, & more as well as interviews with Preston Cooke, John Hankey, Kyle Wyatt, Kent Johnson, Mike Del Vecchio, Bill Burke from a March 2001 flashback with a Lionel model of the AT&SF F-3, Brian Solomon, Kurt Bell, Joe Welsh, Jeff Taylor, Marti Lenz, Kevin Keefe, SP 4449 crewmember Jack Wheelihan (mistakenly called John), Scott Swenson, Tito Miglio, Paul Hammomd, Charles Klimeck, Donald Colangelo, Russell Sharp, & Brian Rhodel.

   Countless road names are shown including Pennsylvania, New York Central, Santa Fe, Union Pacific with the 6900 series Centennial units & 4141, Burlington Route, Amtrak, the FT 103, Montana Western, Jersey Central, Boston & Maine, Lackawanna, Western Pacific, Baltimore & Ohio, Southern, Louisville & Nashville, Chesapeake & Ohio with a mention of 1309 the last steam engine made by Baldwin, Chicago & Northwestern, Southern Pacific, Rio Grande, Nickel Plate Road, Reading, Burlington Northern, Metra, Panama Canal Railway, CSX, Coaster, GO Transit, Ferromex, Kansas City Southern, BNSF, Norfolk Southern, Northern Pacific, Metrolink, etc. as they operate from revenue service when they were first built, to today’s preservation museums, tourist lines, & special mainline excursions.

   Did you know that EMD assembled more or less than 65,000 diesel locomotives? Some music was also used in some TMBV titles.

2. Rated 5 out of 5

   Brian La Rosa – May 10, 2022

   EMD at 100 is an extremely awesome video to watch in celebration of Electro-Motive Diesel’s first century! This program begins with the basic origins of the internal combustion engine and, more importantly, the diesel engine prior to the birth of Electro-Motive in 1922. In fact, you can briefly see a short list of the company’s names from EMC to EMD. The next chapter focuses on the earliest products, which were the gasoline-electric passenger motor cars (or “doodlebugs”), and EMC’s first true stand-alone locomotives.

   The video would never be complete without the two most famous streamliners of the 1930s: the Union Pacific’s distillate-powered M-10000 and the diesel-powered Burlington Zephyr. There are many fan favorites shown in EMD at 100, including the FT model that started the whole F unit family and the DDA40X, the world’s largest diesel-electric locomotive. Subsequent chapters feature the 567, 645, and 710 eras as well as the changing owners of Electro-Motive from General Motors to Caterpillar. One of the railroad historians interviewed in this documentary is my personal favorite book author, Brian Solomon, who regularly serves as a columnist for Trains Magazine.

   The video finishes with a tour of Progress Rail’s current locomotive production plant in Muncie, Indiana; both current and former EMD employees have also been interviewed. The two present North American locomotive models briefly shown are the freight-duty SD70ACe-T4 and the passenger-service F125. There is even a sneak peak at the builder’s first battery-electric type: the Joule. While EMD at 100 may not cover all the history points of the company, you can see plenty of colorful photos showing both domestic and export locomotives. More stories can be found on Trains Magazine’s special issue of the same name, available on the web at kalmbachhobbystore.com. Still, the video would be fascinating for Electro-Motive enthusiasts like me! Happy 100th Birthday to EMD!