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
TU2 diesel locomotive TU2 diesel locomotive TU2 (ТУ2) is a Soviet narrow gauge diesel locomotive for the track gauge of The decision to replace steam locomotives by diesel ones on the narrow gauge railways was taken after the Second World War. The first diesel locomotive built for the narrow gauge railways was the TU1, built in 1954; only two locomotives of this type were built. The TU2 was an improved redesign of the TU1. The first TU2 was built in 1955. The first TU2 was tested on the test site of the Central Scientific Institute (in Shatura), that belonged to the Ministry of