EMD FT

The EMD FT was a 1,350-horsepower (1,010 kW) diesel-electric locomotive produced between November 1939 and November 1945, by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division (the "F" stood for 1400 horsepower (rounded from 1350) and the "T" for twin, as it came standard in a two-unit set). All told 555 cab-equipped A units were built, along with 541 cabless booster B units, for a grand total of 1,096 units. The locomotives were all sold to customers in the United States. It was the first model in EMD's very successful F-unit series of cab unit freight diesels, and was the locomotive that convinced many U.S. railroads that the diesel-electric freight locomotive was the future. Many rail historians consider the FT one of the most important locomotive models of all time.

See EMD 567 for specific information on the history of the 567 medium-speed two-stroke cycle Diesel engine, as employed in the FT and its many successors. In 1951, E. W. Kettering wrote a paper for the ASME entitled, History and Development of the 567 Series General Motors Locomotive Engine, which goes into great detail about the technical obstacles that were encountered during the development of the 567 engine (these same considerations apply to its successors, the 645 and 710).