The GM Research Lab produces the first two prototype two-cycle diesel engine. These 8-cylinder 201 series engines power the Chevrolet assembly plant exhibit at the Century of Progress Exposition in Chicago.

On February 12, the Union Pacific takes delivery of its first three-car aluminum streamliner -- City of Salina. This train was designed and supplied by EMD and
powered by a 600 hp 191A Winton distillate engine.

The diesel-electric locomotive era begins on April 7, when EMD's first diesel-electric streamlined train rolls out of the Budd Manufacturing plant in Philadelphia. The train is christened on Wednesday, April 18, and begins a five-week barnstorming tour. On May 26, the reopening day of the Century of Progress Exposition, the train made the now historic "Dawn-To-Dusk" dash from Denver to Chicago, covering 1015 miles in 13 hours and 5 minutes. The train's average speed was 77.6 mph, breaking all long distance, nonstop railroad records.

EMD breaks ground on a 74 acre site for a 200,000 sq. ft. locomotive plant in LaGrange, Illinois on March 27.

The very first diesels equipped with the new 567 engines were delivered to the Seaboard Airline Railway in early December for use on the famous Washington to Miami Orange Blossom Special trains. The trains set revenue and time schedule records and proved the merits of the new EMD engine. Also, the first application of a 567 EMD engine was made in a non-rail application.

The FT103 begins an 83,764 mile tour on November 25. During the next 11 months, the "103" pulled freight trains on 20 railroads. It operated in temperatures ranging from 110 degrees in the shade to 40 degrees below zero and under conditions ranging from dense sea-level air to the rarefied atmosphere of Tennessee Pass, 10,200 feet high.

First river tow boat application using an EMD 567 engine and a Falk gear.