Locomotive frame fabrication cost reduction

Narrator: Once a black puffing giant, the railroad locomotive is now streamlined, sleek and shining, and gay with color. In one shop the cost of fabricating the frame of a locomotive was cut in half by welding, and also there was a 25% saving in weight. The couplers are mostly welded rolled steel plate for weight reduction and greater reliability. These big diesels are a most economical source of power for hauling both passengers and freight because their weight has been so greatly reduced, in some cases as much as 200,000 pounds.