The Republican
Locomotive talk set at library
Wednesday, November 16, 2005
PALMER - Tomorrow at 6 p.m., Preston Cook will give a color slide show, "Inside EMD," at the Palmer Public Library, 1085 Park St.
The Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in Illinois, also known as EMD, at one time was the largest locomotive manufacturing facility in the world. It was demolished several years ago.
Included in this presentation is a brief history of EMD, a tour of the facility as it appeared in its peak production years of the 1970s, and the manufacturing of colorful and unusual EMD products. It is a trip back to a place and time that now survives only in photos and in the memories of those who worked there.
Cook is a mechanical engineering graduate of the University of Massachusetts. He worked for 16 years as a field service engineer, training center instructor and district engineer for EMD. Cook manages 37 rebuilt F40PH-2C locomotives operating on the MBTA in Boston.
He is the author of several railroad books, including "Erie Lackawanna Memories" and "The Railroad Night Scene." He has also written numerous magazine articles on railroad, marine, naval, military and travel.
This program is open to the public and refreshments will be served. For information, call the library at (413) 283-3330. Submitted by the Palmer Public Library.