Floca conducted extensive research including his own train ride and consultation with experts to ensure he had the details all correct.

This design, combined with the second person narration, created the effect of making the readers feel like they were actually partaking in the train journey themselves.

[3] He eventually honed in on the steam engine and the transcontinental railroad and credits this decision with helping the book because he could "fall in love" with the time period as well.

[2] Floca also credited the other artists he shared a studio with, including John Bemelmans Marciano and future Caldecott winner Sophie Blackall, with helping provide him feedback and support.

[6] The nonfiction Locomotive starts by giving historical background in its front cover pages about the construction of the transcontinental railroad in the 19th century.

After the title page, Locomotive explains, using second person free verse narration, about what it was like to ride the railroad from Omaha to Sacramento in the summer of 1869 using the journey of a mother and her daughter and son.

They noted his use of techniques such as alliteration, assonance, onomatopoeia, and internal rhyme which, in the words of Kirkus Reviews, "reinforce the rhythms of the journey.

[5][7][12] Floca's oversized design of the book also enhanced the reading experience, with varying font types and sizes, helping to convey meaning and atmosphere.

[7][8][13][14] Reviewers praised Floca's ability to compellingly illustrate both vast landscapes and cutaways of the locomotive steam engine.

[8][15] Yet the book remained "approachable"[8] thanks to its illustrations and use of the fictional train journey to transport the reader to the time and place.

In a mixed review Sara Rofofsky Marcus of Walden University, writing for Library Media Connection, wrote of the differing depth of information at the front and back of the book compared with the verse that dominates the rest of it.

[15] Kristi Elle Jemtegaard, writing in the Washington Post, also complemented the book's mixed allure writing Floca, "weaves a poetic text and dramatic illustrations into an appealing narrative"[23] In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews praised the book as, "Nothing short of spectacular".

[13][26] The book won the Caldecott Medal for best picture book with Caldecott Medal Committee Chair Marion Hanes Rutsch saying, "The committee was impressed with Floca’s ability to creatively capture the immensity and inner workings of the early locomotive and combine it with a family’s adventurous journey west".