The EMD SDL39 is a model of 6-axle

diesel-electric locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels ...

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 March 1969 and November 1972. Power was provided by the

EMD 645E3 The EMD 645 is a family of diesel engines that was designed and manufactured by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors. While the 645 series was intended primarily for locomotive, marine and stationary engine use, one 16-cylinder versi ...

12-

cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an ...

engine as used in the

EMD GP39 The EMD GP39 is a 4-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between June 1969 and July 1970. The GP39 was a derivative of the GP38 equipped with a turbocharged EMD 645E3 12-cylinder engine which generated ...

which generated 2,300 horsepower (1.7 MW). The unit was built on a short frame with C-C export trucks, barely tipping the scales at and managing a light-footed axle-loading of just per axle. All 10 examples of this locomotive model were built for

Milwaukee Road The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), often referred to as the "Milwaukee Road" , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until 1986. The company experienced ...

, who wanted a lightweight

road-switcher A road switcher is a type of railroad locomotive designed to both haul railcars in mainline service and shunt them in railroad yards. Both type and term are North American in origin, although similar types have been used elsewhere. A road ...

to replace their fleet of 1947-built

ALCO RSC-2 The ALCO RSC-2 was a diesel-electric locomotive that rode on three-axle trucks, having an A1A-A1A wheel arrangement. 91 locomotives were produced — Used in much the same manner as its four-axle counterpart, the ALCO RS-2, though the wheel ar ...

s. These Milwaukee Road units were numbered 581–590. The 581 was wrecked at Sacred Heart, MN in 1983, and scrapped the following year. The remaining nine units were transferred to the

Soo Line Railroad The Soo Line Railroad is the primary United States railroad subsidiary of the Canadian Pacific Railway , one of seven U.S. Class I railroads, controlled through the Soo Line Corporation. Although it is named for the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sa ...

when it acquired the Milwaukee Road. All were subsequently included in the sale of the Soo's Lakes States Division (most of its network in Wisconsin and Upper Michigan, plus some lines in adjoining Illinois and Minnesota) to the new Wisconsin Central Limited. After the Wisconsin Central was purchased by, and merged into the

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 ...

, the nine units were returned to the lessor, and were sold to FEPASA, Chilean Freight Operation Concession.

References

* * Sarberenyi, Robert.
EMD SD39 and SDL39 Original Owners
'.

External links

SD39L C-C locomotives Milwaukee Road locomotives Railway locomotives introduced in 1969 Diesel-electric locomotives of the United States Freight locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of the United States 5 ft 6 in gauge locomotives {{diesel-loco-stub