Western Railroad Discussion > Dyno Switcher

While waiting a the west end of Cheyenne for the arrival of 4014 we were treated to the Dyno Nobel Chemical plant run departing the yard with 23 cars in the 8th run.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

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I am too old school to compute "switcher" with a SD40-2. That was premium road power in my day, and to see it used on locals and in yards is hard to come to terms with. Still the best locomotive ever built. 

I agree with you fully. Just as the GP7  and F-7's were in the first generation the SD40 (-2)'s were the premier diesels of my time (second generation) on the railroad.
My favorite switcher in Cheyenne was 1048, an NW-2.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

My second favorite switcher was this SW10 (1243/96) lettered for the steam program and now it performs for the musuem in Portland Oregon.

Bob Krieger
Cheyenne, WY

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irhoghead Wrote:
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> I am too old school to compute "switcher" with a
> SD40-2. That was premium road power in my day, and
> to see it used on locals and in yards is hard to
> come to terms with. Still the best locomotive ever
> built. 

I used to think that until I hired out on BNSF and worked in a yard where we would flat-switch and kick cars, switching out 300 to 400 cars a shift. The SD40-2s were, by far, the best engines we had for this task. They load quickly and stop well, which was perfect for kicking cars, then when we had to move a full track, they have no problem moving a lot of tonnage. Where I am now it's mostly GP60s and GP60Ms and they are nowehre near as capable as the venerable SD40-2s.