The EMC TA Diesel – A Locomotive That Kind of Didn’t

The EMC TA diesel locomotive was an early passenger diesel and a Rock Island oddity.

If it looks and sounds like an early EMC E-series streamlined diesel passenger locomotive, there is a good chance it is. But don’t bet the family farm.

The locomotive in question is the EMC TA diesel, a one-off design built specifically to power Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific’s new Rocketstreamliners, a series of semi-articulated trainsets built by the Budd Company in 1937. Six units were built, numbered 601-606 in 1937. (EMC, or Electro-Motive Corp., became GM’s Electro-Motive Division, or EMD, in 1941.)

Despite their similarity in design, once you know they exist, the TA units were easy to tell apart from Es. They were physically a little smaller, with recessed headlights and two-axle trucks. Inside hummed a standard Winton 201A V16 diesel like what the company was offering in other locomotives. The 201A, in this application rated at 1,200 hp, was succeeded by the 567 design that powered the majority of EMD’s first-generation locomotives.

The TA factory paint scheme was a snazzy maroon, red, and silver design with liberal amounts of stainless steel to match the accompanying passenger cars. It was never clear if the TA was a special design for the Rocket trains or that it was just not marketed to other railroads.

Over their operating careers, the TAs were very successful, proving to be dependable little work horses. As they aged, the railroad added a gyrating light in the nose to complement the original headlight, and larger number boards. For ease of maintenance, over the years the stainless steel went away, as did the flexible diaphragm between the back of the locomotive and the first passenger car.

Normally, nearly unique locomotives such as these see their original assignments disappear, and they usually follow suit. As more modern power and shifting passenger-car directives changed, the TA units eventually found themselves as standalone locomotives assigned to the Rock Island’s general passenger and commuter fleet. All six wound up on locals and commuter trains radiating out of Chicago until they eventually were retired in the late 1950s.

All six EMC TA diesel locomotives were scrapped.