GM’s trains
Yes, it’s General Motors again, this time in the train business. Until 1930 GM CEO Alfred P Sloan Believed that his conglomerate approach to car making could be carried over to the entire transportation world, and that year bought Clevelands Electro-Motive Company (EMC). GM correctly suspected that American railways would switch from steam to diesel, which would create demand for new engines, and also saw synergies for this source of power with their cars.
EMC eventually became America’s largest manufacturer of diesel locomotives alongside arch rival General Electric, although a beneficial collaboration with GM’s Autoarm was not possible in this case. It exported all over the world including Great Britain, as in this example, a EMD 710 12-cylinder diesel engine with an output of 3000 hp. GM sold EMC to a private equity group in 2005. In 2010, the company sold EMC to the construction equipment giant Caterpillar.
The truth is, we could make a whole story about the random things GM has been doing over the years. Other things are that M-18 Hellcat tank and the DUKW Amphibious amphibious trucks during World War II and a large equipment division that produced Refrigerators, dishwasher, Ovens, Garbage compactor, and Washing machines until it sold that arm in 1979 the remains were part of today Electrolux. GM also built the world first mechanical heart. Phew