During the development of the 1,000-horsepower switcher, FM officials knew that the company would have to produce a road cab unit if it were going to make it in the locomotive business. Engineers designed a road locomotive around a carbody styled by industrial designer Raymond Loewy. Since FM did not have a the shop capacity to build a large locomotive itself, it contracted that work to General Electric, which produced the units at its Erie, Pa., plant, hence the name “Erie-built.” GE built 111 of the distinctive locomotives for Class 1 railroads across the country.
With a 1,000-horsepower switcher and a 2,000-horsepower road cab unit, FM wanted to enter the roadswitcher market. During 1946, the company’s engineering team designed a 2,000-horsepower end-cab unit named the Heavy Duty unit,. Few railroads saw the H20-44’s potential and only 96 units were sold to five customers.

88 pages, 8.5" x 11", vertical format, more than 150 black-and-white and color photos, dustjacket features a specially-commissioned painting by noted railroad artist Mike Danneman.