Seaboard Air Line 2027 and 2028 were lightweight, streamlined Diesel-electric railcar

Railcar

A railcar, in British English and Australian English, is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach , with a driver's cab at one or both ends. Some railways, e.g., the Great Western...

s built by the St. Louis Car Company

St. Louis Car Company

The St. Louis Car Company was a major United States manufacturer of railroad passenger cars, streetcars, trolleybuses and locomotives that existed from 1887–1973, based in St. Louis, Missouri.-History:...

 in 1936. Electromotive Corporation supplied the 600 hp, eight-cylinder Winton Diesel

Diesel engine

A diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber...

 201-A prime mover

Prime mover (locomotive)

In engineering, a prime mover is an engine that converts fuel to useful work. In locomotives, the prime mover is thus the source of power for its propulsion. The term is generally used when discussing any locomotive powered by an internal combustion engine...

 and electric transmission components. The units had an B-2 wheel arrangement, mounted atop a pair of road trucks

Bogie

A bogie is a wheeled wagon or trolley. In mechanics terms, a bogie is a chassis or framework carrying wheels, attached to a vehicle. It can be fixed in place, as on a cargo truck, mounted on a swivel, as on a railway carriage/car or locomotive, or sprung as in the suspension of a caterpillar...

. The aft section was divided into two separate compartments: one was used to transport baggage and the other served as a small railway post office

Railway post office

In the United States a railway post office, commonly abbreviated as RPO, was a railroad car that was normally operated in passenger service as a means to sort mail en route, in order to speed delivery. The RPO was staffed by highly trained Railway Mail Service postal clerks, and was off-limits to...

, or RPO (the forward door, located just behind the radiator louvers, was equipped with a mail hook).

Two units were manufactured for the Seaboard Air Line Railroad

Seaboard Air Line Railroad

The Seaboard Air Line Railroad , which styled itself "The Route of Courteous Service," was an American railroad whose corporate existence extended from April 14, 1900, until July 1, 1967, when it merged with the Atlantic Coast Line Railroad, its longtime rival, to form the Seaboard Coast Line...

 (SAL). The last usage of these railcars was in May, 1971.
Unit 2027 was destroyed in a collision with a gas tanker truck at Arcadia, Florida

Arcadia, Florida

Arcadia is a city in DeSoto County, Florida, United States. The population was 6,604 as of the 2000 census. According to the U.S Census estimates of 2005, the city grew to 7,151. It is the county seat of DeSoto County; it is also DeSoto County's only incorporated community. On October 27, 2009,...

 in 1956. Unit 2028 was renumbered to #4900 after the Seaboard-ACL merger in 1967 and was eventually retired and scrapped after Amtrak took over national passenger service in 1971.

See also

• List of GM-EMD locomotives
• Doodlebug (rail car)
  Doodlebug (rail car)
  In the United States, doodlebug was the common name for a self-propelled railroad car . While such a coach typically had a gasoline-powered engine that turned a generator which provided electricity to traction motors, which turned the axles and wheels on the trucks, versions with mechanical...
  
  
• FM OP800
  FM OP800
  The OP800 was a lightweight, streamlined railcar built by the St. Louis Car Company in 1939. Fairbanks-Morse supplied the 800 hp, five-cylinder 8 x 10 opposed piston engine prime mover. The units were configured in a highly-unusual 2-A1A wheel arrangement mounted atop a pair of road trucks, and...
  
  , similar St. Louis Car Company built railcars, powered by Fairbanks-Morse
  Fairbanks-Morse
  Fairbanks Morse and Company was a manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originally a weighing scale manufacturer, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, locomotives and industrial supplies until it was merged in 1958...