Here's one of the often overlooked aspects of railroading that frankly doesn't exist today in anything like the form it used to have: advertising for locomotives. With only two major builders and many fewer buyers this lack of ads is understandable. But once upon a time, when advertising was (in my opinion) much better than it is today, ads like this could be found in everyday magazines.
It is a well known fact that General Motors realized the power of advertising. They had some pretty good ads for cars in the early forties, and they unleashed these very same ad men on the job of selling locomotives. Their ad campaign for locomotives, extending through at least the early fifties, was brilliant. Using a rather "sledgehammer" approach, many ads targeted specific railroads, showing ancient steam engines, and talking about the modern efficiencies of diesel-electrics. These ads were not disrespectful of steam, but clearly stated that EMD's diesels were indeed better.
Above, a very early ad for EMD, from before it was officially a division of GM. This ad makes the link, for the reader, betwen auto production and locomotive production, and seeks to explain why that is a natural progression. A rather simple, but convincing ad, marking the begining for EMD's huge sales growth, and the beginning of the end for steam. Mentioned, but not shown, is EMD's "GM freight locomotive, already proving a record-breaker, on the railroads'biggest jobs." This ad does not imply it, or even compare diesel vs. steam, but the designers knew what they were about, and the eventuality would be the vanquishing of steam by diesels in the United States. |
