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
Baldwin Locomotive Works which boosted demand for their coal-fired steam locomotives while acquisition of EMD's Diesel locomotives was in its most restricted period. In 1943 Baldwin launched its belated road Diesel program, producing a prototype "Centipede" locomotive which was later rebuilt to introduce their first major product in the postwar market. During World War II Baldwin's contributions to the war effort included not only locomotives and switchers but also tanks. Baldwin was one of the manufacturers of several variants of the M3 tank (M3 Lee, M3A2, M3A3, M3A5) and later the M4 Sherman. A Baldwin subsidiary, the Whitcomb Locomotive Company, produced hundreds of