MLW's headquarters and manufacturing facilities were in Montreal’s Hochelaga-Maisonneuve area (with only the 1911 administration building remaining at 1505 Dickson Street).

Between 1918 and the period after the Second World War, Canadian National modernized its steam locomotive fleet by replacing many of the units it had received from its constituent railways.

After Baldwin folded, CLC became a licensee of Fairbanks-Morse and manufactured a number of F-M designs for the Canadian market, including the famous Train Master.

General Electric did not enter the road diesel-electric market in the United States until the late 1950s, a move it took after dissolving its partnership with Alco in 1953.

Canadian railways continued to rely heavily upon steam locomotives throughout the 1950s, a time when many United States railroads were dieselizing.

Throughout the 1960s, Canadian National Railway (MLW's largest diesel-electric locomotive customer) continued to implement purchase policies drafted by its government owners, which spread procurement among all manufacturers.

GMD's transmissions were built to parent GM-EMD's designs, which were closely based on earlier GE equipment (prior to 1937).

Alco found itself in financial difficulty in 1964 and was purchased by Worthington Corporation, a major manufacturer of equipment for the pulp and paper industry and a former builder of steam locomotive accessories.

In 1968, several divisions of Alco became semi-independent subsidiaries, and in a 1969 corporate reorganization, Studebaker Worthington closed the Schenectady locomotive manufacturing facility.

The Canadian Locomotive Company (renamed as Fairbanks-Morse, Canada) had closed in 1969, leaving MLW-Worthington as the primary competitor to the rapidly expanding GMD.

During this time, at the behest of Canadian National, MLW-Worthington developed the wide-nosed "safety cab", which provided improved crew accommodation and collision protection.

[citation needed] During the 1970s, Bombardier began to enter the railway passenger car business with domestic orders for commuter and subway systems.

Similar equipment was also used briefly by Amtrak.The last of the locomotives were retired from service in 2001, although the coaches continue to form the backbone of Via's intercity corridor fleet.

By now fully merged into Bombardier, the MLW plant and design bureau also received a spurt of contracts from government-owned Canadian National Railway for the newly designed HR (High Reliability) line of freight locomotives that incorporated the Canadian safety cab or a full-width carbody; namely the 4-axle HR-412 (similar to the M-420) and the full-width carbody 6-axle HR-616.

The nearby GE-Camco-Westinghouse plant, which is the only Canadian manufacturer of home appliances, bought half of the property to build its new shipping warehouse and a new parts store.

Bombardier's North American rail manufacturing facilities are in La Pocatière, Quebec; Plattsburgh, New York; and Thunder Bay, Ontario.