The EMD SD40 is an American 6-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by

General Motors Electro-Motive Division Progress Rail Locomotives, doing business as Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its su ...

between January 1966 and August 1972. 1,268 locomotives were built between 1966 and 1972. In 1972, an improved version with new electronics was developed and marketed as a new locomotive, the SD40-2.

Design

Like its predecessor in EMD's catalog, the SD35, the SD40 is a high-horsepower, six-axle freight locomotive. The SD40 is a member of EMD's long-running Special Duty class of locomotives, which all are built with 6 axles. In 1966, EMD updated its locomotive catalog with entirely new models, all powered by the new

645 __NOTOC__ Year 645 ( DCXLV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 645 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

diesel engine. These included six-axle models SD38, SD40, SDP40 and

SD45 The SD45 is a six-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between 1965 and 1971. It has an EMD 645E3 twenty- cylinder engine generating on the same frame as the SD38, SD39, SD40, and SDP40. As of 2022, ...

. All shared standardized components, including the frame, cab, generator,

trucks A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...

, traction motors, and air brakes. The primary difference was the power output: SD38 = from a non-turbocharged V16, SD40 = from a turbocharged V16, and SD45 = from a turbocharged V20.

Original owners

856 examples of this locomotive model were built for

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

railroads, 330 were built for

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

railroads, 72 were built for

Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...

railroads, 6 were built for the Guinea-Boke Project, and 4 SD40Ms riding on gauge trucks were exported to Brazil. They were manufactured at

McCook, Illinois McCook is a village in Cook County, Illinois, United States, and is an industrial suburb of Chicago. As of the 2020 census, the village population was 249, which is the lowest population of all municipalities in the county. History McCook was ...

. Built by GMD at

London, Ontario London (pronounced ) is a city in southwestern Ontario, Canada, along the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor. The city had a population of 422,324 according to the 2021 Canadian census. London is at the confluence of the Thames River, approximat ...

Mexican SD40's Built by EMD at

or GMD at

Phases are as listed by Robert Sarberenyi.

Derivatives and Experimental

The very first test bed SD40, EMD 434, constructed on an SD35 frame in July 1964 was in active service until retired by

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

in March 2009 and donated to the Monticello Railway Museum in July 2009, albeit having been upgraded to an "SD40-2R", as

Illinois Central The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also c ...

6071. 18 customized SD40s were built for the

Illinois Central Railroad The Illinois Central Railroad , sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the Central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line al ...

as model SD40A, using the longer SDP45 frame, which allowed for a larger 5,000 gallon fuel tank. Versions of the SD40 modified for the

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

n loading gauge were sold to WAGR and

Victorian Railways The Victorian Railways (VR), trading from 1974 as VicRail, was the state-owned operator of most rail transport in the Australian state of Victoria from 1859 to 1983. The first railways in Victoria were private companies, but when these companie ...

as their L and C classes respectively. The SD40 was succeeded by an upgraded Dash 2 version called the SD40-2.

SD40 rebuilds

After having been succeeded by the more modern SD40-2, a large number of SD40 have been upgraded with more modern equipment. The main difference between rebuilt SD40 and genuine SD40-2 is that the latter use a longer frame and has longer front and rear porches, while the rebuilt SD40 have a shorter frame. A common product of rebuilding SD40s, and sometimes SD40-2s, is an SD40-3. The major addition denotes that the rebuilt unit or units as an SD40-3 is the addition of a micro-processor, and sometimes other modern components. The usual reasons for installing a micro-processor are improved traction control, and better fuel economy (via better injection control). Also, electronic control over braking systems (independent and automatic). This may include some SD39, SD45 and SD45-2 rebuilt to SD40-2 standards. The SD40R is a rebuilt of all the Southern Pacific's SD40 between 1980 and 1981. 30 SD40 units have been rebuilt as SD40M-2 by Morrison Knudsen for Southern Pacific, alongside 97 SD45s and 6 SDP45s. The SD40-2XR designates 15 SD40 and a SDP40 rebuilt to Dash-2 standards for

Montana Rail Link Montana Rail Link is a privately held Class II railroad in the United States. It operates on trackage originally built by the Northern Pacific Railway and leased from its successor BNSF. MRL is a unit of The Washington Companies and is hea ...

. The SD40E is an SD50 rebuilt by the

Norfolk Southern Railway The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...

and derated to 3000 HP (equivalent to an SD40-2).

SD40-series production timeline

DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy ImageSize = width:900 height:auto barincrement:30 Period = from:01/01/1966 till:01/01/1990 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:30 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 Colors = id:barcolor value:rgb(0.99,0.7,0.7) id:line value:black id:bg value:white PlotData= width:20 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:powderblue from:01/01/1966 till:08/31/1972 text:SD40 (Jan 1966 - Aug 1972, 1,268 units produced) bar:2 color:powderblue from:06/01/1966 till:05/31/1970 text: SDP40 (June 1966 - May 1970, 20 units produced) bar:3 color:powderblue from:01/01/1969 till:01/01/1970 text: SD40A (1969 - 1970, 18 units produced) bar:4 color:powderblue from:01/01/1972 till:10/31/1989 text: SD40-2 (Jan 1972 - Oct 1989, 3,957 units produced) bar:5 color:powderblue from:06/01/1973 till:08/31/1974 text: SDP40F (June 1973 - Aug 1974, 150 units produced) bar:6 color:powderblue from:04/01/1974 till:07/31/1980 text: SD40T-2 (Apr 1974 - July 1980, 312 units produced) bar:7 color:powderblue from:05/01/1975 till:12/31/1980 text:

SD40-2W The EMD SD40-2 is a C-C diesel-electric locomotive built by EMD from 1972 to 1989. The SD40-2 was introduced in January 1972 as part of EMD's '' Dash 2'' series, competing against the GE U30C and the ALCO Century 630. Although higher-horsepowe ...

(May 1975 - Dec 1980, 123 units produced) bar:8 color:powderblue from:04/01/1978 till:05/30/1978 text: SD40-2S (Apr 1978 - May 1978, 5 units produced; Nov 1980, 4 units produced) bar:8 color:powderblue from:11/01/1980 till:11/30/1980 bar:9 color:powderblue from:06/01/1979 till:07/01/1979 text: SD40X (1979, 4 units produced) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:1 start:01/01/1966 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(370,30) # tabs:(0-center) text:"SD40-Series Production Timeline"

Preservation

Santa Fe #5008 (built 1966 as ATSF 1708) is preserved at the Walt Disney Hometown Museum in Marceline, Missouri.

Canadian Pacific The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

SD40 #5500 is preserved at the Revelstoke Railway Museum in Revelstoke, BC. It was CP's first SD40, built in 1966 at GMD's

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

plant and was retired in 2001. The unit was donated to the museum in 2007. Plans are being made to restore the locomotive to its original look as it was when ordered, including a repaint into its original grey/tuscan red paint scheme, known as the Canadian Pacific "Script". Ex-

Canadian National The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN ...

SD40 #5232 (built November 1971) has been purchased by The Vintage Locomotive Society on January 10, 2015, from

Cando Cando may refer to: * Cando, North Dakota * Cando, Saskatchewan * Cando, Spain Cando (parish of San Tirso) is a village in northwestern Spain, in Outes, province of A Coruña, and the region of Galicia, with a population of around 1000. It was ...

and the Central Manitoba Railway. It is being used for revenue service by Prairie Rail Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Society. The unit has been repainted completely black, with Prairie Rail Solutions lettering and logos. It is VLSX 5232.

SD40-2R #6071, the first SD40 built, is preserved at the Monticello Railway Museum in Monticello, Illinois. It was originally EMD demonstrator #434. It was sold to the Gulf Mobile & Ohio and it became GM&O #950. The GM&O was later merged into the Illinois Central Railroad and became Illinois Central Gulf #6071, then later rebuilt into an SD40-2R for the IC. It was donated March 11, 2009. The engine is fully functional, however it needs new traction motors if it were to operate again. Chesapeake and Ohio 7534 has been donated by CSX Transportation to the C&O Historical Society in Clifton Forge, Virginia. This engine is well known in the railroad enthusiast community as it ran on CSX right up to the late-2000s still wearing some of it original C&O paint and lettering, and was the very last SD40 on CSX's roster. The engine was meant to used on the Buckingham Branch Railroad, which also operates out of Clifton Forge, however the unit spends quite a bit of time at the Historical Society's museum. In mid December, 2014, it was revealed that Norfolk Southern had set aside two SD40 units, that were retired in 2007, for preservation: * NS SD40 #1580, built as Norfolk and Western #1580, the first SD40 built for the N&W. It is currently being stored at the Juniata Shops in Altoona. * NS SD40 #3170, built as

Southern Southern may refer to: Businesses * China Southern Airlines, airline based in Guangzhou, China * Southern Airways, defunct US airline * Southern Air, air cargo transportation company based in Norwalk, Connecticut, US * Southern Airways Express, M ...

#3170, the first SD40 bought by the

. It was restored to operating condition at the

Juniata Shops Altoona Works (also known as Altoona Terminal) is a large railroad industrial complex in Altoona, Pennsylvania. It was built between 1850 and 1925 by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), to supply the railroad with locomotives, railroad cars and relat ...

Altoona, Pennsylvania Altoona is a city in Blair County, Pennsylvania. It is the principal city of the Altoona Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA). The population was 43,963 at the time of the 2020 Census, making it the eighteenth most populous city in Pennsylvania. T ...

, and then sent to the NS Paint shops at the Debutts Yard in

Chattanooga, Tennessee Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020 ...

, where it made its public debut February 27, 2015. It operated on the NS Coastal Division. On May 18, 2016, it was donated to the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum by Norfolk Southern.

References

* * Sarberenyi, Robert.
EMD SD40, SD40A, and SDP40 Original Owners
'. Retrieved on December 19, 2009 * Eck, H. C., The Modern Locomotive Handbook, 1977 * Service Department (1966). SD40 - SDP40 Operator's Manual. La Grange, IL: Electro-Motive Division of General Motors Corporation {{Authority control SD40 C-C locomotives Diesel-electric locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1966 Articles which contain graphical timelines Freight locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Standard gauge locomotives of Canada Standard gauge locomotives of Mexico 5 ft 3 in gauge locomotives Diesel-electric locomotives of Canada Diesel-electric locomotives of Mexico