Locomotives: The Modern Diesel and Electric Reference Paperback – August 14, 2015

This is a very well written, high-quality book filled with top-class pictures illustrating all locomotive units covered in the period. However, it is quite a surprise the absence of KLW and its products in the list of locomotive manufacturers. Just for the record, EMD sold about 80 or so DDM-45 diesels to EFVM - Vale railroad in Brazil during the 70s, equipped with meter gauge trucks. They were actually SD-45 units modified to D+D configuration using smaller traction motors. This was necessary because de original traction motors of the SD-45 wouldn't fit in the meter gauge lines of EFVM and also because EFVM requested EMD to keep the load axle below 20t. They were very successful locomotives.

Softcover but very substantial book, with beautiful photography! Book is like-new and will be given as a gift so I was very thankful for seller's careful packing, which ensured it arrived in beautiful shape. Will definitely buy from this seller again.

This is a great book for the library of most any North American rail enthusiast. I'm very happy it's in mine. I enjoy all of the photos, every one of which are excellent. There are several hundred photos, with one or more photos per page of this 239 page book! The descriptions and data included for each locomotive designation are invaluable, and truly appreciated. This book is truly a beautifully presented encyclopedia for those of us who love North American railroading and locomotives. It covers just about every class/designation in North American locomotives from EMD Dash 2's, and GE Dash 7 models produced in the mid 1970's. I love and highly recommend this book!

This reference guide is far superior to previous Diesel Spotter's guides in that the format is larger, the paper quality is superior, and the pictures are large and in color. The author and spotter's guide authors acknowledge that superiority in the Forward, but all of the guides are invaluable in identifying locomotives and examining them for details that are important in model railroading. There are some improvements that could be made to make it worth five stars. In describing differences, the author gives a general description of differences that force a reader to dig for examples when the author could easily provide them. For example, a photo of an SD70M on page 163 mentions a blower bulge much smaller than that on an SD60. If the author had added, "See the protrusion just ahead of the 'SOO' letters on the SD60 shown on page 155," a reader would quickly see the difference. Another solution would have been to show a small black outline of the locomotive being described, with a circle or arrow pointing the feature being described. That would assist novices who may not readily identify dynamic brake grids, radiator flares, or sight gauges.One editing mistake was to introduce the genset locomotives on page 201 but not describe what they were until page 217. This would puzzle any reader not up to new technology for 16 pages worth of reading. All in all, though, the book is a great complement to the original spotter's guides.

This book is better than I thought..it has almost 300 pages and is definitely worth the buy..nice pictures to look at with great info..highly recommend.

Clear and complete information on GE / EMD history and growth, to include mechanical advances for both.

A great picture book loaded with a lot of engineering, technical, and business descriptions. I highly recommend if you are researching the railroad industry.

A very detailed and well written description of all the main locomotive manufacturers in the US. It updates the previous edition with many photos and technical information on the latest technology being employed across the nation's rail systems. I am very pleased with this version as I thought the first edition was outstanding. This follows with the same quality and level of detail