Some SP SD40M-2's 8575 at Mojave 8634 west, haulin butt through the High Desert of California. 8575 shovin hard on an eastman at Woodford. 8678 east runs up the siding at Woodford. Thom
Ex-EL, huh? Are all the SP SDP45s former EL? Geez, EL SDP45 - SP SDP45 - SP SD40M-2 - UP SD40M-2, this loco's had more work done on it than Michael Jackson... mg:
AFAIK, yes, all former Espee SDP45's are former EL. They were ordered specifically steam-gen-delete to install a humongous fuel tank....
Interestring, I read somewhere that they kept their combo fuel/water tanks. I also notice that some pix show them with flat long hood ends, but mine has an angled rear. Either way, this one stays close to home, usually pulling the short local along with some beat up SD60s...
Did SP order real SDP45's? Maybe they bought second-hand SDP45's from EL to add to their own roster of SDP45's. Thom?
Yep they did. They were awesome!! They replaced the TrainMasters in Commute service, and were also used on passenger trains such as the San Joaquin Daylight
Ah, so they were built from EL SDP45s, not SP SDP45s. Either way, I need to figure out how to model one
SP had 10 real SDP45's. All were scrapped way before the SD40M-2 order was made. When the commute service ended, all of them went into regular freight service.
GN only rostered 6 of these brutes, delivered 6/67-8/67... One had the experimental 4-axle radial truck installed....
wow! I don't think I have ever seen that unit in pics or video. jwaldo has a great idea about modeling one. The SDP45 should be the next one that Intermountain or Kato makes!
Just to clarify things - SP had 10 "true" SDP45s, SP 3200-3209, bought new in 1967 for intercity passenger service. They had the blunt hood ends to accomodate steam generators, and also had split fuel/water tanks. When SP's LD trains died, they replaced the F-M Train Masters in the Bay Area Commute pool. When CalTrain took over the commute business, they were assigned to the general freight pool, and on account of their split tanks (for some reason, SP never removed the fuel tank divider to give them a full fuel tank), they usually worked short-range "Haulers" in the LA Basin. Never included in SP's GRIP rebuild program (unlike many of their other SD45s), they were all off the roster by 1992, and all have long since been cut up. As for the M-K rebuilt SD40M-2s shown in this thread (great pics, btw!), like others have mentioned, are former E-L units. They're readily identifiable by their pointed hood ends. They were built from the onset for freight duty - E-L wanted the longer SDP frame only for the 5000 gallon fuel tank, in order to use the units on non-stop hot UPS trains. When M-K scoured the country for six-axle EMD core units to use for SP's SD40M-2 order, six ex-E-L units were among those selected for use in the program, becoming SP 8691- 8696.
