I think it was a Beautiful Locomotive, so graceful in the age of steam.
Yes, The New Haven ordered there "Road Diesels" from there long time supplier, ALCO. They listed them as 0700 series "Freight-Passenger" locomotives. Each unit was rated at 2,000 hp and were run in pairs back to back. This gave them 4,000 hp at speeds up to 80 mph. They ordered 10 (5 pairs).
The first 4 units were delivered in December 1941, just after Pearl Harbor, and entered service on December 13th, south out of Boston, on train #175. A second order followed for 20 more units (total of 30, 15 pairs). 14 arrived in 1942, they then ordered 30 more. 2 more arrived in 1943, 10 in 1944, with the other thirty as the war ended. As of July 1944, total mileage for the 30 units then in service was 5,652,677 miles.
The New Haven entered the Post-War period with 30 4,000 hp pairs of DL109s (60 locomotives).
Ref: my copy of the New Haven Raiload company magazine "Along The Line", July 1944.
Of note, some of the "War Time" deliveries used Plywood for the side panels to save steel for the war effort.
