Western Railroad Discussion > Remants of UPRR's ex-SP "SD40M-2" Fleet?

I'm talking about those in the original SD40 and SD45 carbodies *and a few ex-EL SDP45s built w/o steam generators for the large fuel tanks--it was a post about SDP45s and SDP40s below that prompted me to ask this). Rebuilt for the SP in the early 1990s by MK, about 300 units. As I recall, many if not most got a full Class C Rebuild around the 2004 period. Like new they were then, but now that's already 10 years ago on the 2nd rebuild--God how time has flown by!!! I wish that the Don Strack UtahRails.Net site was still active for UP Roster info.

These were very good power for the SP and then the UPRR. I loved running them, especially the "Faux SD45s" as they were called which had had their original V-20s simply "cut down" by MK with a laser process patented by MK removing the middle 4 cylinders and crankshaft replacement turning them into standard 3000 HP V-16s like all the rest. Very good and reliable power they were. But sounds like after two "lives" (on the SP and UP alone--God only knows how many times they'd been rebuilt from the assortment of RRs they came from), sounds like they are no longer "keepers" on the UPRR??? If so, sad. What's the full story (stats, amount left running if any, etc.?). Are they just being retired as they fail or what? I guess that after "two full lives," they certainly have earned the original investment the SP made on them in 1993-94. But with EPA Tier 4 coming up, and the UP SD40N Program, seems like at least a portion of these might have made for good power with a 3rd rebuild. Oh well.

Any photos of these unique classic oldies welcome, too in either SP or UP paint...

And anybody else out there that liked these somewhat unique units as much as I did?

A large lot of them went to Rail America and were distributed throughout a chunk of their properties like the MNA and the HESR.

I miss them as well. Only got to ride a couple of them back in 2008. Many of them were running around in fresh paint at that time, others were still unpatched SP units.

This was probably my favorite shot of one in action.

Back when I was living down that way (when I was 16), at Dexter, MO I came across UP Train ZDTMX 31 headed south on the UP Jonesboro Sub., which was former Cotton Belt. Even then I never really figured I'd see another one of a stack train, but here was one leading one of the hotter trains on the subdivision at the time. I remember that we were under a tornado watch that afternoon, and my dad and I chased a small twister near Lilbourn, MO that evening. Trailing unit was SD40-2 CEFX 3183. 8-31-06 - Dexter, MO

Looking back I should have chased the SD45 body. I've seen tornadoes since then, but haven't seen a SD45 carbody lead a stack train since.

Pump



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/14 03:09 by UPTRAIN.

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Red Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I'm talking about those in the original SD40 and
> SD45 carbodies *and a few ex-EL SDP45s built w/o
> steam generators for the large fuel tanks--it was
> a post about SDP45s and SDP40s below that prompted
> me to ask this). Rebuilt for the SP in the early
> 1990s by MK, about 300 units. As I recall, many if
> not most got a full Class C Rebuild around the
> 2004 period. Like new they were then, but now
> that's already 10 years ago on the 2nd
> rebuild--God how time has flown by!!! I wish that
> the Don Strack UtahRails.Net site was still active
> for UP Roster info.
>
> These were very good power for the SP and then the
> UPRR. I loved running them, especially the "Faux
> SD45s" as they were called which had had their
> original V-20s simply "cut down" by MK with a
> laser process patented by MK removing the middle 4
> cylinders and crankshaft replacement turning them
> into standard 3000 HP V-16s like all the rest.
> Very good and reliable power they were. But sounds
> like after two "lives" (on the SP and UP
> alone--God only knows how many times they'd been
> rebuilt from the assortment of RRs they came
> from), sounds like they are no longer "keepers" on
> the UPRR??? If so, sad. What's the full story
> (stats, amount left running if any, etc.?). Are
> they just being retired as they fail or what? I
> guess that after "two full lives," they certainly
> have earned the original investment the SP made on
> them in 1993-94. But with EPA Tier 4 coming up,
> and the UP SD40N Program, seems like at least a
> portion of these might have made for good power
> with a 3rd rebuild. Oh well.
>
> Any photos of these unique classic oldies welcome,
> too in either SP or UP paint...
>
> And anybody else out there that liked these
> somewhat unique units as much as I did?

There were 133 of these MK SD40M-2's. UP returned these units to the owner following lease expiration several years ago. As already mentioned, a small group of these nuts were sold to RailAmerica and distributed among the various family of railroads they owned at the time. There were 25-30 units purchased and Missouri & Northern Arkansas, New England Central and the Huron & Eastern were among the roads to recieve them along with a couple others I can't think of offhand at the moment. More recently some of the remaining 100 or so units have been sold to National Railway Equipment. Atleast 30 units went to NRE and were subsequently sent to Metro East Industries to have various parts harvested for resale with the remaining hulks scrapped. Sadly the group purchased by NRE included atleast 2 of the 5 remaining SDP45 carbodies. (there were 6 SDP45's used as core units and one was wrecked and scrapped late in the SP years or early after the UP takeover).

Bryan Jones
Brooks, KY
Bryan's Train Photos

The first train that I ran after being set up was as an Engineer was on one of these MK SD45 rebuilds, the SP 8595 (my TO "handle") from Pueblo to Minturn!

I thought they were good engines to run but I was happy with any standard cab engine that I caught leading:}

As of September 2014, there were at least 30 of them still languishing away the days in Sterling, Illinois. Some of them were still unpatched, and a few actually looked to be in good shape (paint-wise). I don't know how long they have been stored there, or if UP still owns them. They are located behind a fence near the former CNW Geneva Subdivision on property that appears to be owned by a car rebuilding company whose name escapes me at the moment but I'd guess that someone on here may chime in.

-Don Kalkman



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/14 08:27 by Mastadon.

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I happened to be in the right place at the right time to get one of the very last ones in service, which happened to also be one of the very last unpatched ones.

(Pardon the link to "that other site")

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=334885

fwwr5007 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I happened to be in the right place at the right
> time to get one of the very last ones in service,
> which happened to also be one of the very last
> unpatched ones.
>
> (Pardon the link to "that other site")
>
> http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=33488
> 5


That's cool! I got to shoot that one a couple times in 2006 and 2007 when it was still in the general pool. I remember there being a 2700 in Kansas City in early 2010 on a yard job. It was with a MP15AC of all things. Sure wish I'd been able to shoot it, but I was busy running a coal train.

Pump

I was fortunate to catch three new ones in 1994:

http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=498281&nseq=1#remarks

Posted from iPhone

James Belmont
Salt Lake City, UT

Buy them back and put them in the rebuild program.

As an SP engineer at this time, I was happy to see anything new that might have a working air conditioner and would get you over the road! An interesting thing was that many of these locomotives had started out as 16 cylinder SD40's and of course the others were SD45's. During the rebuild, blocks were mixed and matched, but an original 20 cylinder block cut down to 16 cylinders would have 3 punch marks on the end of the block at the start station. I guess this was for the mechanical department for easy identification!

SP8595 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The first train that I ran after being set up was
> as an Engineer was on one of these MK SD45
> rebuilds, the SP 8595 (my TO "handle") from Pueblo
> to Minturn!
>
> I thought they were good engines to run but I was
> happy with any standard cab engine that I caught
> leading:}

Good for you for your first "set up" trip--and I don't blame you for one minute for making that your TO Handle there, SP 8595!!! There was just something "special" about these units, wasn't there? And I agree with you, and I'm stealing a line from a Steven Seagall movie (the name of which I can't recall when he or another character was talking about a certain rifle he was holding and he "felt SOLID with it"...), well I always felt "SOLID" with those SD40M-2s, and the UP SD40-2Rs (and ESPECIALLY the Snoot versions), and the ex-SP 8300-Class SD40T-2s that remained (though were dropping like ducks). And UP man that I was--I wasn't original SP but off the MP/T&P side of the System, but I felt "solid" in those Tunnel Motors at the end, both the SD45T-2s and the SD40T-2s, but there was just something "special" about the Snoots of the 8300-Class and the UP Snoot variants which went on to make up a large portion of the "SD40-2Rs" that got air conditioning--good for both winter and the heat of summer--that made me feel "solid" as a hogger!!! Along with those SD40M-2s, every one of which had air conditioning, but were also just darn good reliable PULLERS. And there's NOTHING like the sound of a solid set of "645s in the morning," to borrow a phrase from Robert Duvall as "Colonel Kilgore" in APOCALYPSE NOW!!!! Or even a mixed set of either and SD40M-2 or Snoot version of the UPRR SD40-2R leading a pair of brand new "Flagged & Flared EMD SD70Ms," or even an SD70M leading two SD40-2Rs/SD40M-2s. God how I miss that!!! But especially a matched set of EMD 645-powered, freshly rebuilt SD40M-2s (as pictured above), or, SD40-2R Snoots with those long noses. I have to admit that I at times got a "woodie" just listening out the window to a solid set of the type of standard cab EMD power that you describe and that is the topic of this discussion. Yes, folks, some of us "LOVE IT," and "LOVED IT' (past tense).

Just glad at least that the UPRR has chosen to rebuild "X-Amount" of the SD40-2s/SD40-2Rs into "SD40Ns" so that that Standard Cab Experience will continue for hogheads long into the future, and that loud sound that could be heard for MILES out into the distance will continue for many years to come!!! And I'm sure that you know WELL either from in the Cab, or from trackside, with a 3-Unit Set of 645s of whatever variant, that spine-chilling "oscillating effect" they'd get/GET in certain throttle notches!!! One big one was throttling down from Notch 8 to 7. But they'd also "oscillate" in a strange rythm in Notch 6 or even 5. And in Notch 8, a 3-unit set of solid 645-powered units...and HOW they would/do indeed sound like an angry hive of bees...a sound not to be replicated in RRing...and certain NOT by GE "chuggers," right?!?

And I betcha that with EPA Tier 4 approaching, the UPRR (perhaps?) wishes they'd have hung on to that majestic fleet of ex-SP SD40M-2s for their "SD40N Program" that they once had which could have carried them further forward into the EMD "Dry Spell" that is approaching (no new EMDs now projected until 2017, and when EMD does come back out with a loco, it'll probably be a 4-cycle Cummins or Cat "chugger" that sounds pretty much like a GE), don't you reckon? And, all photos above beautiful (the deadline rather sad), BTW. And any following photos, greatly wished for of the SD40M-2s in their Glory Days, whether they are ex-SP 8500s or freshly repainted/rebuilt UP 2700s!!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/14 20:19 by Red.

UPTRAIN Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> A large lot of them went to Rail America and were
> distributed throughout a chunk of their properties
> like the MNA and the HESR.
>
> I miss them as well. Only got to ride a couple of
> them back in 2008. Many of them were running
> around in fresh paint at that time, others were
> still unpatched SP units.
>
> This was probably my favorite shot of one in
> action.
>
> Back when I was living down that way (when I was
> 16), at Dexter, MO I came across UP Train ZDTMX 31
> headed south on the UP Jonesboro Sub., which was
> former Cotton Belt. Even then I never really
> figured I'd see another one of a stack train, but
> here was one leading one of the hotter trains on
> the subdivision at the time. I remember that we
> were under a tornado watch that afternoon, and my
> dad and I chased a small twister near Lilbourn, MO
> that evening. Trailing unit was SD40-2 CEFX 3183.
> 8-31-06 - Dexter, MO
>
> Looking back I should have chased the SD45 body.
> I've seen tornadoes since then, but haven't seen a
> SD45 carbody lead a stack train since.
>
> Pump

You got a GREAT SHOT there, UPTRAIN!!! And I do mean, PERFECT!!!