Diesel locomotive set, and went into series production with other streamlined car sets in Germany starting in 1935. In the USA, diesel-electric propulsion was brought to high speed mainline passenger service in late 1934, largely through the research and development efforts of General Motors from 1930–34 and advances in lightweight carbody design by the Budd Company. The economic recovery from the Second World War saw the widespread adoption of diesel locomotives in many countries. They offered greater flexibility and performance than steam locomotives, as well as substantially lower operating and maintenance costs. Diesel–hydraulic transmissions were intrdouced in the 1950s, but from the
Diesel locomotive multiple control systems. In all cases, the electrical control connections made common to all units in a consist are referred to as trainlines. The result is that all locomotives in a consist behave as one in response to the engine driver's control movements. The ability to couple diesel–electric locomotives in an MU fashion was first introduced in the EMD FT four-unit demonstrator that toured the United States in 1939. At the time, American railroad work rules required that each operating locomotive in a train had to have on board a full crew. EMD circumvented that requirement by coupling the individual