An era is about to end-the Electro-Motive Division of GM is about to be sold to new owners. So, I thought it would be worthwhile to mention the existence of a stellar slide presentation put together by Preston Cook-well known railroad photographer- book author and former EMD employee. Mr. Cook has given this presentation throughout the Northeast over the past few years.

The name of the presentation is "Inside EMD." The presentation shows in great detail how locomotives were constructed at the (now demolished) EMD complex at LaGrange, Ill. The approximate time frame is the early 70's to early 80's.

As an employee, Mr. Cook had unfettered access to the goings-on within the plant-above and beyond that ever offered during either public events or trade-related plant visits. It shows-for the entire production process is well documented-engine-rotating electrical-hoods, cabs and of course, final assembly and painting.

This is a solid 2 hour presentation of six slide trays accompanied by Prestons' live narration. Mr. Cook is both a great story teller and a very amusing raconteur-effortlessly dealing with all manner of questions from the audience. He knows the products he supported VERY well-and it showed.

One of the truly stunning things about this show is that the two hour used way less than 10 percent of the material Mr. Cook has on hand that pertains to the subject.

For those who wish to inquire as to the possibility of Preston presenting the show to your group, he can be contacted at sdp45@earthlink.net

DPK

I, too, have seen Mr. Cook's presentation and highly recommend it.

Alan Maples

I just wanted to let forum participants know that a slightly condensed version of the 1970s plant tour program INSIDE EMD will be published by R&LHS in their RAILROAD HISTORY Magazine beginning in issue #218 (available in May 2018) and continuing through several issues that follow.

Their website: http://www.rlhs.org

PC

Absolutely great news!

Mr. Cook would you happen to have any photos of F40s being built? Hope this is not too off topic.

As the Membership Secretary of the Railway & Locomotive Historical Society I would urge anyone interested in this to join our society at rlhs.org. Membership is $35 for the year and would get you both of these two issues of Railroad History, plus our Quarterly Newsletter. Our convention will be in St Louis on May 31 - June 3, including a circle trip on the Terminal RR. Details are at the web site. The two issues at the non-member price of $15 per issue would only save you $5.

There are shots of F40PH locomotives in INSIDE EMD, some of them are recognizable, some not so, right side up, upside down, in pieces, and as components. Which of these get used in the R&LHS article will be the editors choice, I captioned and submitted more photos than the page count can hold.

The priorities of the INSIDE EMD original program were as listed below. Featuring a specific type of locomotive was not a significant priority, nor was any specific railroad or operator:

1. Present a general history of EMD Plant One from groundbreaking to demolition
2. Provide a walk around tour of the plant as similar as practical to the Wednesday afternoon training center tours (i.e. the tour EMD provided regularly to customers)
3. Within that scope, demonstrate in steps the process of building the locomotive product in the 1970s-1980s
4. Feature the people as much as possible

Keep in mind this program was about the original plant that no longer exists. It was demolished ten years before Progress Rail came along. I can drive my car around a parking lot that now occupies the place that I used to work.

PC

Part 1 of the INSIDE EMD article series (28 pages) was published in issue #218 (Spring 2018) of R&LHS RAILROAD HISTORY Magazine. It covers some EMD plant history plus the assembly and machining of the EMD engine crankcases and the assembly of the engines. It is all in color except for the 1935-era photos of the construction of the plant.

Part 2 of INSIDE EMD is scheduled for issue #219 (Fall 2018) of RAILROAD HISTORY magazine and will cover the construction of DC and AC main generators, D77/D87 traction motors, electrical cabinets, and some of the locomotive structural components.

The article series will eventually conclude with the assembly of the locomotives, final finishing, paint and test, shipping and delivery, a tour of some other areas of the plant, and the demolition of the original Plant One complex. This follows the flow and story line of the original slide program and PowerPoint presentations. It necessarily is done in fewer images (than the original programs) due to the space constraints in a printed presentation.

See Ron's posting above for the R&LHS website and for information on membership in R&LHS.

PC