The Winton 8-201-A Diesel Engine, 1934.

(Winton Engine Company, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons)

 

WINTON ENGINE COMPANY

Winton Engine Company

In 1912, the Winton Motor Carriage Company, an automobile manufacturer, started producing diesel engines for stationary and marine use, and gasoline engines for heavy vehicles, independent of Winton's automobile production. The subsidiary Winton Engine Company remained successful while Winton's automotive sales went into decline, and would outlive the Winton Motor Carriage Company. Winton became the main supplier of engines for internal combustion-electric powered railcars in the 1920s.

Sale to General Motors

On June 20, 1930, Winton Engine Company was sold to General Motors and on June 30 was reorganized as the Winton Engine Corporation subsidiary of GM. It produced the first practical two-stroke diesel engines in the 400-to-1,200 hp (300 to 900 kW) range, which powered the early diesel locomotives of Electro-Motive Corporation (another GM subsidiary), as well as US Navy submarines. In 1934, a Winton eight-cylinder, 600 hp (450 kW) 8-201-A diesel engine powered the revolutionary streamlined passenger train the Burlington Zephyr, the first American diesel-powered mainline train. The Winton Engine Corporation provided 201 Series engines for rail use until late 1938, when it was reorganized as the General Motors Cleveland Diesel Engine Division, which produced the GM 567 series locomotive engines, and other large diesels for marine and stationary use. In 1941, locomotive engine production became part of GM's Electro-Motive Division (EMD). In 1962, Cleveland Diesel was absorbed by EMD, which remains in business today as a subsidiary of Progress Rail.

Marine engines

Winton and Cleveland engines were used widely by the US Navy in the Second World War, powering submarines, destroyer escorts, and numerous auxiliaries. The Winton engines were systematically replaced with the more reliable Cleveland engines during re-fittings during the war.