The Diesel That Did It tells the story of the legendary diesel-electric locomotive, the FT.
As war loomed in 1939, American railroads were on the precipice of railroad transformation. In an obscure factory in La Grange, Illinois, a group of gifted engineers and designers were planning a revolution that would shake railroading to its foundations and eventually put the steam locomotive out of business. Their creation, the FT, was a diesel-electric, semi-streamlined freight engine. The FT would establish a new standard for reliability, flexibility, and cost, but its arrival unsettled many railroad employees and gave fresh ammunition to their labor unions, who believed that it threatened a century-old culture.

Wallace W. Abbey's The Diesel That Did It is the story of a revolution. He explores how EMC (and its successor Electro-Motive Division of General Motors) conceived the FT, and how it ultimately emerged as the dominant locomotive power plant for 20 years. However, for Abbey, the history of the Santa Fe Railway and the FT go hand in hand. The Diesel That Did It also offers a penetrating look at how the great American railroad, at the height of its Super Chief glamor, threw its conservative mechanical traditions aside to bet big on the diesel.

Showcasing more than 140 exquisite photographs by Abbey and other noted photographers, The Diesel That Did It is a captivating story not to be missed by railroaders and railfans.

About the Author

Wallace W. Abbey (1927-2014) spent his career as a railroad journalist and public relations executive, primarily in the Upper Midwest. His combined writing and photographic skills documented well the dynamic railroad landscape from the 1940s through the 1980s. Although Wally never worked for the Santa Fe, it was his favorite railroad, in part because of its 100-class diesel-electrics.

Martha Abbey Miller inherited from her father, Wally Abbey, a love of both railroads and the written word. Following a career in communications management, she is a writer, editor, dramatist, and the author of several nonfiction books. Martha is a member of the board of directors of Haiti Healthcare Partners. She lives in Prescott, Arizona.

Kevin P. Keefe is a Milwaukee-based journalist, former editor and publisher of Trains magazine, and author of Twelve Twenty-five: The Life and Times of a Steam Locomotive, winner of a 2017 Notable Book Award from the Library of Michigan. Kevin continues to write for railroad publications and is also a member of the board of directors of the Center for Railroad Photography & Art.

Reviews

Wallace W. Abbey had already embarked on a long career as a participant in and observer of the rail industry when in 1945 he witnessed the arrival of the first Santa Fe FT diesel in Chicago. The teenaged Abbey knew he was seeing the future. Gifted as both a writer and photographer - with an insatiable curiosity about railroading - Abbey spent decades gathering material about the Santa Fe's landmark FT fleet, and this marvelous book is the result.

-- Robert S. McGonigal, Editor, Classic Trains magazine

Abbey's book is a must-read for serious students of dieselization and the constructive disruption it brought to North American railroads. Electro-Motive's FT was a radical new locomotive created by engineers who dreamt a future. Santa Fe was the first railway to grasp the FT's significance: a fleet of 320 units engaged in an industrial duel in the wartime American southwest. Steam was convincingly shoved ingloriously offstage into history's shadows and a permanent past.

-- Michael Iden, P.E., retired Union Pacific motive chief

Yes, this is the story of a locomotive, the FT diesel. But it is also the story of a company, the glorious Santa Fe Railway, that clasped the FT to its bosom and demonstrated during World War II that here was a mighty workhorse. With that, the steam locomotive was doomed. Who but Wally Abbey could spin this tale so well? After all, he grew up with the FT and alongside the Santa Fe and knew and understood both. So sit back and be seduced by Wally's relaxing narrative about a time long ago and a revolutionary locomotive long gone (but not forgotten).

-- Fred W. Frailey, author and longtime Trains magazine columnist



Book Information
ISBN 9780253062789
Author Wallace W. Abbey
Format Hardback
Page Count 220
Imprint Indiana University Press
Publisher Indiana University Press