Although no one knew it at the time the transition from steam to diesel/electric actually began on July 2, 1913 when General Electric produced the first internal combustion motorcar. This early locomotive only contained the prime mover and a control stand at each end. It resembled a boxcab electric locomotive.

These early gas electrics were not generally successful. It was nearly impossible to coordinate the gasoline engine and the electrical generator and control was only as good as the individual engineer. In addition, GE had anticipated that the gasoline/electric locomotives would generate a savings over the cost of steam operations but those savings never materialized.

In 1916 Dr. Lemp of General Electric completed research on the control problem. His solution included a single lever that would automatically coordinate the engine and the generator thru the use of a governor to control fuel admission to the engine and the generator shunt field excitation.

Dr. Lemp made a decision to change from gasoline to diesel and in 1917 the first diesel/electric was born. Steam continued to rule for many years but it's fate was sealed much earlier than many of us realize.

By the late 1950's and early 1960's steam would disappear from mainline service. The Cascade & North Western has chosen to depict the final days of the transition from steam to diesel. This allows us to make use of the best the steam designers had to offer and utilize the earliest diesel locomotives straight from the drawing board.

This period in the history of the C&NW is not currently available but we wanted you to be aware of what we intend to make available as soon as we complete the Modern Era.

The Management of C&NW

Note: This historical information was found at the following web site.
The URL is provided if you would like to know more.
http://yardlimit.railfan.net/guide/locopaper.html