Diesel locomotive Calabro Lucane in southern Italy in 1926, following trials in 1924-5. In 1924, two diesel–electric locomotives were taken in service by the Soviet railways, almost at one time: In 1935, Krauss-Maffei, MAN and Voith built the first diesel–hydraulic locomotive, called V 140, in Germany. The German railways (DRG) being very pleased with the performance of that engine, diesel–hydraulics became the mainstream in diesel locomotives in Germany. Serial production of diesel locomotives in Germany began after World War II. In many railway stations and industrial compounds, steam shunters had to be kept hot during lots of breaks between scattered short tasks.
Steam diesel hybrid locomotive coal and oil and this was not favourable. When Kitson & Co. failed in 1934 the LNER handed the machine back to the company's receivers and it was dismantled. The Italian "Cristiani Compressed Steam System" used the process of mechanical vapour recompression. A diesel engine compressed steam which was then fed to conventional steam engine cylinders. The exhaust steam was re-compressed and used again. There must have been a small boiler to generate the initial charge of steam but this is not shown in the diagram. The steam was used mainly as a transmission system but the locomotive does count