Electro-Motive E-Units and F-Units: The Illustrated History of North America's Favorite Locomotives Hardcover – November 15, 2011

What a good book if you follow the railroads. I have lived by the NYC and Pennsylvania tracks 15 miles from Chicago. As a boy of 8 years old I would climb the embankment at 83rd street and watch for the head lights. In 10 years of watching I got to know and most of the engine crews. They were all friendly and would wave. The NYC had a disadvantage starting from the inner city station stop at 63 and Englewood since it was on a curve. Pennsylvania came straight. both conductors kept one eye on the other train and one on the other train. When the Pennsylvania and New York Central dieselized most of the excitement left this boys heart, no racing thunder. Both engineers and fireman could operate the locomotives in a Tux. I noticed especially on the NYC the E6 trio was quieter than the E7. To both railroad's it was an honor to be first over the bridge at 93rd street.. The book was very factual and hard for any railroad person to put down. I was laid out quite well.

As the subtitle states, "The illustrated history of North America's favorite locomotives." Longtime railroad enthusiast and author Solomon surveys the history of the classic streamlined diesel-electric locomotives that revolutionized both the nature of railroading (from steam to diesel) and the nature of locomotive building (from unique designs developed by and for each individual railroad, to standard designs adaptable to any railroad). The book ranges from the birth of the Electro-Motive Company to development of the "567" class diesel engine, through the various models of E and F units in their heyday, to the continued use today of Es and Fs on various railroads' flagship executive fleets. Wonderful vintage color and black-and-white photos, along with modern photos of surviving Es and Fs still in operation, illustrate the text. As is often the case with general history texts, I sometimes found myself wanting more detail: More nuts and bolts, so to speak, about the various iterations of generator sets or traction motors or various truck designs, or more operational details from the perspectives of train crews or railroad executives. But all of those subjects are at least touched on, and I recognize the limits of time and pages--no one book could contain all the details various readers might want. For fans of EMD's first-generation diesel locomotives, this book is a keeper.

The subject is a fascinating one, E and F units are the classic diesel locomotives to me. They are the ones that my childhood train sets came with. I bought this book as an e-book and read it using the Kindle app on my iPad. I was a little hesitant about spending so much on an ebook; I have had disappointments before, particuarly with the way that they handle illustrations. This book was reasonably good as an ebook, I could magnify the illustrations and compensate for my ancient eyes.At the same time that the book is a very good facsimile of the printed book, I think it could be more. Once you get away from paper you can get away from limitations on illustration. It would have been nice to have had more illustrations, especially more interior shots.One problem with larger format books is the difficulty in holding them comfortably. The ebook takes care of that as well as removing the need to find bookshelf space.Overall a good effort, probably just as a satisfying to read as the printed book would have been.

I really enjoyed reading this book. Plenty of nice pictures that highlighted the well written, but not overly heavy amount of text. The book runs through the evolution, and development of all the models of the E, and F unit locomotives. The E passenger units get full coverage first, followed up by the F freight units. I liked the depth at which author Brian Soloman explores the history involved. Although I knew many things already I still learned some interesting facts. I think if you like these units you should really buy this book.

This elegant volume takes its place beside others in author Brian Solomon's studies of railroad technology. He has applied his broad knowledge of railroading to show how General Motors got into diesel development in the 1930s and introduced the first locomotive that was rugged and powerful enough to haul freight trains. GM engineers used their skills in design and marketing of automobiles to demonstrate the superiority of their new product. Though their production was limited by World War Two, they continued to refine their designs, emphasizing power, reliability and interchangeability of parts. GM locomotives in passenger service became icons for a sleek new look that railroads wanted to keep people riding trains. Author Solomon supplies just enough technical details to show why GM's product was so successful, illustrating its development with a lavish display of color pictures of the locomotives and trains on a variety of railroad lines. I bought my copy from Amazon.

As a rail fan I have collected lots of books on this topic.Many of the volumes on my bookshelf have been penned by Brian Solomon. His approach is to provide the reader with both great photos and well researched exposition on the particular topic of interest. In the case of EMDs E and F series he makes a great case for why they are North Americas favorite locomotives. For the rail gear heads you will find a very nicely put together tome about a series of locomotives that you are already quite familiar with. For the rail fan newbie it also a great introductory lesson about modern train history. All in all this is a very nice book.

The men in my family (grandfather, father, me, and my godfather, all operated the various models B&M F's and E's in their days and still ride behind the B&M 4266 (F7A), on occasion, when she runs on the Conway Scenic Railroad..Also operated the F10 version (rebuilt F3's) (2000 HEP equipped version for MBTA in commuter service They were good pullers and riders and paid back many times their selling price. EMD built them to last!

This book is for EMD lovers everywhere. I don't live in the States, but in Northern Ireland. Nevertheless I grew up seeing these beautiful streamlined locomotives in films. This book, as the name suggests covers diesel electric locomotives. It has plenty of photos and also plenty of details. Mr Solomon has put a lot of effort into the detail. I think he has done a good job. Who'd have thought that we'd be celebrating old diesels some nearly seventy years on from their introduction just the way we do with steam.

Just what i needed. Now i know about the "E"- and "F-units".

Je suis passionné de trains américains et j'adore ce modèle de locomotive qui a lancé l'ère du diesel. Ce livre, très bien documenté, est un élément de plus pour ma connaissance de ces modèles.

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