D-Day on the Western Pacific: A Railroad's Decision to Dieselize (Special #81)

Fascinating history of how and when the Western Pacific chose its diesel locomotives, beginning with the first EMD switcher in 1939 and the first three FT freight units in 1942. The author follows the Operating Department for 40 years to see why the WP purchased and employed diesel power the way it did. You will see the final hurrah for steam during World War II, assault the Canyon with EMD, Alco, FM and GE test units, watch as changing times dictate changing combinations of power, witness the birth and death of the California Zephyr and its F-3 and FP-7 units, glimpse the RDC experiment, examine the WP's locomotive facilities and meet men like Ed Cuyler who made the decisions and ran the trains. Illustrated throughout with black and white photos. With all-time rosters of WP, Tidewater Southern, and Sacramento Northern diesel locomotives, map, bibliography, and gradient profiles. This is Interurbans Special 81. 224 pages.