Diesel locomotive Therefore, diesel traction became economical for shunting before it became economical for hauling trains. The construction of diesel shunters began in 1920 in France, in 1925 in Denmark, in 1926 in the Netherlands, and in 1927 in Germany. After few years of testing, hundreds of units were produced within a decade. Diesel-powered or "oil-engined" railcars, generally diesel–mechanical, were developed by various European manufacturers in the 1930s, e.g. by William Beardmore and Company for the Canadian National Railways (the Beardmore Tornado engine was subsequently used in the R101 airship). Some of those series for regional traffic were begun with gasoline motors
TU2 diesel locomotive trains. Later they were replaced by more modern designs. As of 2007, they are no longer in use on the narrow gauge railways in Russia, but some narrow gauge railways in Ukraine still use them. Many children's railways use TU2 locomotives too. The Aukštaitijos narrow gauge railway in Lithuania also still operates the TU2. TU2 is a diesel-electric locomotive. The main diesel engine is 1D12 and it produces 300 hp. The main engine drives the electric generator (195 kW) that supplies electricity to four traction motors, 62 kW each. TU2 diesel locomotive TU2 (ТУ2) is a Soviet narrow gauge diesel