Diesel locomotive break down. Hydraulic transmission for locomotives was developed in Germany. There is still debate over the relative merits of hydraulic vs. electrical transmission systems: advantages claimed for hydraulic systems include lower weight, high reliability, and lower capital cost. By the 21st century, for diesel locomotive traction worldwide the majority of countries used diesel–electric designs, with diesel hydraulic designs not found in use outside Germany and Japan, and some neighbouring states, where it is used in designs for freight work. In Germany and Finland, diesel–hydraulic systems have achieved high reliability in operation. In the UK the diesel–hydraulic principle gained a poor
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