Please note this is a new photoduplicated reproduction, not an original.
According to the history provided by American-Rails.com, the EMD FT locomotives was developed by the Electro-Motive Corporation, a few years before EMC was acquired by General Motors to become the Electro-Motive Division. EMC had first developed and successfully introduced the diesel locomotive model ‘EA’, designed for passenger rail service. EMC then began work on the FT, tailored for rail freight hauling. As the history states, “The FT nearly single-handedly replaced the steam locomotive as railroads were extremely impressed with the model and convinced that diesels could be used in main line freight service after GM successfully demonstrated the design around the country in 1939.”
Like with the EA/E1 model, the Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe was the first to jump on the bandwagon with the FT and ordered a whopping 320 A and B units just by itself (interestingly, it purchased more FTs than Alco’s entire line of PAs), and it did not take long for other railroads to follow after seeing the locomotive’s capabilities. In the end, 25 railroads, mostly Class Is from the Chicago & North Western and Milwaukee Road to the Reading and New York Central purchased the FT. The model became so successful that by time production had ended in the late fall of 1945 EMD had sold over 1,000 units!….The success of the locomotive likewise convinced EMC to begin introducing an entire line of Fs and technically it is still in production today with the F59PHI (although this locomotive is, ironically, used in passenger service). Today, despite being more than 60 years of age a number of FT's continue to survive, including original GM demonstrator #103, which is on display at the Museum of Transportation in St. Louis.
As is usual with most correspondence course booklets by the International Correspondence Schools, this is richly illustrated with 15 pictures and schematics of various locomotive systems, including