Eastern Railroad Discussion > The Unique W&LE SD40-3

The most unique of the 14 SD40-3 rebuilds rostered by the Wheeling & Lake Erie Railway is the 3046. This unit was originally built by EMD as one of nine SD40X locomotives, which were demonstrators for the EMD SD40 model. Unlike the production SD40's which had an overall length of 65' 8" between couplers, the SD40X demo units were built on the shorter SD35 frame with an overall length of 60' 8" between couplers. The SD40X was rated at 3000 horsepower and was powered by an EMD 16-cylinder 645E3 engine.

W&LE 3046 was originally EMD 434G and was built in April of 1965. The unit was acquired by Union Pacific in February of 1966 and it became UP 3046. It was retired by UP in October 1988 and was later acquired by Wisconsin Central's Oxford Leasing division. While it retained its road number, the unit was repainted in WC-Oxford's MoPac inspired blue with white lettering and stripes. The 3046 and its 13 sisters were leased to the W&LE Railway in August 1992. The W&LE purchased the units in late 1997, then resold them to CIT Financial Group. All 14 units were then leased long term from CIT and under the agreement the W&LE was paid to rebuild the units to SD40-3 standards. The 3046 was the second unit to be rebuilt in the SD40-3 rebuild program and was completed in July 1998. The 3046 was the second unit to wear W&LE orange and black, but was the first of two to receive the small D&RGW inspired lettering.

The photo below shows W&LE SD40-3 3046 on July 6, 1998 at the W&LE Brewster, Ohio shops as it was being load tested following its rebuild.


Chris Toth

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This unit would almost seem to be an appropriate one for preservation. A prototype of the ubiquitous SD-40 (and all the variants thereof)it has some history behind it.

Chris:

Nice write up on W&LE 3046.
I guess you remember back many years
when the 3046 took a spill at
Mile Post 85 on W&LE's
Pittsburgh & West Virginia.

The 3046 was lead unit of 4 six axles,
2 SD-40's and 2 WC (ex: N&W) SD-45's.

That spill involved a estimated
200 ton rock that dropped down onto
the right of way fouling the main
track.

Just before dawn, a 52 car W&LE
Grain Train bound for Hagerstown
struck the rock with the 3046
turning over on her side (engineers).

I guess the 3046 recieved some rebuilding
at that early date if I recall correctly.

VW

Yes, in 1994 the 3046 spent months in the W&LE locomotive shop in Brewster being rebuilt from that wreck. The unit was finally returned to service in December of 1994. The engineer's side of the cab had been crushed and it was torched off and replaced using half of the cab from Southern GP35 2701 which the W&LE had cannibalized for parts. The front of the low short hood had also been dented in and this was repaired using sheet metal plates. The fuel tank had been torn open when the unit rolled over and it was repaired. The right side of the cab the cab and nose were painted in red primer when the 3046 was initially released from the shop after repairs had been completed. The unit finally had the primered portion repainted in blue in March of 1995 while it was in the shop for its required FRA 92-day test.

Chris Toth

Looks like it lost it's v radiator in the rebuild.

This particular unit never had the flaired radators the others were built with.

Of the nine EMD SD40X locomotives, six were built with the flared carbody and three were built with the standard carbody:

EMD 434 (which became GM&O 950/IC 6071)- standard carbody
EMD 434A-434F (which became UP 3040-3045) - flared carbody
EMD 434G-434H (which became UP 3046-3047) - standard carbody

Chris Toth

Chris,

Would you happen to have an extra slide of this locomotive that I can add to my collection of oddballs? Please let me know and reply to me at steveo71@aol.com. Many thanks! And keep up the good work!

Steve Ondik
essdee70mac
Leesport, PA

I don't normally revive old threads. But wouldn't this be the oldest SD40 family locomotive still in active service?

I had 3046 multiple times during my time at the Wheeling, it was a good engine. (Photo is several years old, I left WE over a decade ago)

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