It is pertinent to explore the origins of this locomotive and its rise to fame. As is well known the M2s were manufactured by the Electro Motive Division (EMD) of General Motors (of Canada in this instance) and is the export version Model G12 of their famed GP7 locomotive. General Motors of US had revolutionised the American railroads and indeed the world’s with the introduction of diesel rail traction in the 1930s, which ultimately led to the demise of the steam locomotive on a worldwide basis.

The war years of the 1940s proved a temporary setback to locomotive development. After the war railways throughout the world were struggling to keep their steam locomotive fleets operating due to their excessive maintenance requirements and difficulties in obtaining good quality coal. The post-war years saw most railroads looking to diesel traction, although some, notably in Europe turned to full scale electrification. It was then that Richard Dilworth, an engineer at EMD, came out with the GP7 in 1949.