A bit more history on diesel-electric locomotives: The implementation of the idea came from Europe, where they strung electric cables over the rail lines. They didn't need the diesel engines. (And yes, they used electric motors so that they could get very large, very heavy, loads moving with very low acceleration without the need for a transmission.) The purpose was to transition from steam locomotives to electric. The US has much larger open lands that train tracks traverse, much of it without easy access to electric at the time this transition from steam to electric happened, so stringing power lines over the tracks was impractical. We instead built the electric locomotives with diesel generators to get the same benefit without having to run the cables.
None of this had anything to do with efficiency of power generation, except in terms of generating motive force from electric vs. steam.
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2021 Thor Four Winds 26B on Chevy 4500
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