The SD45 is a six-axle

diesel-electric locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the power source 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 whee ...

class built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between 1965 and 1971. It has an EMD 645E3 twenty-

cylinder A cylinder () 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 infinite ...

engine generating on the same frame as the SD38, SD39,

SD40 SD40 may refer to: * Canon PowerShot SD40, a digital camera * EMD SD40, a diesel-electric locomotive * South Dakota Highway 40 * SD-40 alcohol, ethanol denatured alcohol, denatured by adding denatonium benzoate * School District 40 New Westminster, ...

, and SDP40. As of 2023, most SD45s have been retired, scrapped or rebuilt to

SD40-2 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. Although higher-horsepower locomotives were av ...

standards.

Design

A total of 1,260 were built for American railroads before the SD45-2 replaced it in 1972, along with the related

SD45T-2 The SD45T-2 is a model of diesel-electric locomotive built by Electro-Motive Diesel, EMD for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Like the later EMD SD40T-2, SD40T-2 it is colloquially nicknamed a tunnel motor. 247 total units (including the original E ...

'Tunnel Motor'. SD45s had several teething problems. Reliability was not as high as anticipated; the twenty-cylinder prime mover was prone to

crankshaft A crankshaft is a mechanical component used in a reciprocating engine, piston engine to convert the reciprocating motion into rotational motion. The crankshaft is a rotating Shaft (mechanical engineering), shaft containing one or more crankpins, ...

failure from engine block flex. Though it produced more than the 16-645E3 in the

, some railroads felt the extra horsepower was not worth it, even after EMD strengthened the block to eliminate crankshaft failures. At low speeds when tractive effort was adhesion-limited, the SD45 provided no advantage over the SD40. Buyers included the

Burlington Northern The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States–based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1995. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroad ...

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the names ...

, Santa Fe,

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad ( reporting mark PRR), legal name as the Pennsylvania Railroad Company, also known as the "Pennsy," was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. At its ...

, the Great Northern Railway,

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...

, the

Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad The Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad , often shortened to ''Rio Grande'', D&RG or D&RGW, formerly the Denver & Rio Grande Railroad, was an American Class I railroad company. The railroad started as a narrow-gauge line running south fr ...

, and the

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was an important American transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the Western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest between 1864 and 1970. It was approved and chartered b ...

. Many SD45s still exist, some rebuilt with sixteen-cylinder 645s for lease companies. SD45s and SD45-2s owned by

Montana Rail Link Montana Rail Link (now operated by BNSF as the MRL Subdivision) was a privately held Class II railroad in the United States. It operated on trackage originally built by the Northern Pacific Railway and leased from its successor BNSF Railway. ...

retain their 20-cylinder prime movers. Wisconsin Central used to roster a large fleet of SD45s, but its sale to CN has resulted in the retirement of the entire fleet, with mass scrappings. Montana Rail Link is also starting to sell some for scrap. EMD built seven examples of an experimental modification of the SD45, designated SD45X. The SD45X trialed several new features, including a more powerful EMD 645E3 engine producing up to 4,200 horsepower (3,130 kW) and a newly designed truck intended to have higher adhesion. Changes to the body included the use of different radiator fans and a flat rather than beveled end to the long hood. Six of the SD45X locomotives were purchased by the Southern Pacific Railroad, with the seventh kept by EMD.

Accidents and incidents

* On February 20, 1989, Southern Pacific SD45R locomotive #7502 was involved in a wreck that derailed 48-cars of an 82-car train and three of these cars had contained residue from

chlorine Chlorine is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Cl and atomic number 17. The second-lightest of the halogens, it appears between fluorine and bromine in the periodic table and its properties are mostly intermediate between ...

phosphoric acid Phosphoric acid (orthophosphoric acid, monophosphoric acid or phosphoric(V) acid) is a colorless, odorless phosphorus-containing solid, and inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is commonly encountered as an 85% aqueous solution, ...

and

hydrocarbons In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic; their odor is usually faint, and may b ...

. * On May 12, 1989, Southern Pacific SD45R locomotives #7551 (formerly #8985) and #7549 (formerly #9038) were both destroyed in the 1989 Cajon Pass Runaway when they crashed along Duffy Street in

San Bernardino, California San Bernardino ( ) is a city in and the county seat of San Bernardino County, California, United States. Located in the Inland Empire region of Southern California, the city had a population of 222,101 in the 2020 census, making it the List of ...

Rebuilds

SD45u

The

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the largest Class 1 railroads in the United States between 1859 and 1996. The Santa Fe was a pioneer in intermodal freight transport; at vario ...

rebuilt 115 units into what had become the EMD SD45u. They were all renumbered as 5300-5483 between 1979 and 1989.

SD44R

In 1981, the

Southern Pacific Transportation Company The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the names ...

rebuilt a single SD45 (SP SD45 #8837) into a single locomotive model designated the SD44R and numbered it #7399.

SD45R

The

rebuilt a total of 167 EMD SD45 units into EMD SD45R

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover (locomotive), power source is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is con ...

s at their own Sacramento Shops under the Southern Pacific's M-99 rebuild program and renumbered their units as 7400 through 7566. Most of them in their SD45 form were classified by the Southern Pacific as EF636-1, EF636-2, EF636-3, EF636-4, EF636-5 and EF636-6, but when they were all rebuilt under the Southern Pacific's M-99 rebuild program, they were classified as EF636LR-1, EF636R-2 and EF636LR-3.

SD40-2/SD40-3

The units are rebuilt with a 16-cylinder engine and derated the units from 3600 to 3000 HP.

SD45 operators

SD45X operators

Preservation

Erie Lackawanna The Erie Lackawanna Railway , known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The official motto of the line was "The Friendly Service Route ...

3607 is preserved at the St. Louis National Museum of Transportation. Restored to EL colors, this unit is a static display. *

Great Northern 400 Great Northern 400, nicknamed Hustle Muscle, is a restored SD45 diesel locomotive originally owned by the Great Northern (GN). It was built in 1966 as the first production SD45 by Electro-Motive Division. History GN 400 was the first of eight ...

, named "Hustle Muscle", was the first production SD45. It is preserved by the Great Northern Railway Historical Society, based out of

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, ...

. It was in active service on the

Minnesota Transportation Museum The Minnesota Transportation Museum (MTM, reporting mark MNTX) is a transportation museum in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. MTM operates several heritage transportation sites in Minnesota and one in Wisconsin. The museum is actively involv ...

's Osceola and St. Croix Valley Railway until it suffered a crankshaft failure in its original 20-645E3 engine, requiring a replacement engine to be installed. BNSF Railway overhauled a 20-645E3 engine from a retired ex-ATSF SD45-2 and donated and installed the new engine in January 2019. * Kansas City Southern 1200 is at the Rail Museum of Heroica Matamoros in Matamoros, Mexico on static display *

Norfolk and Western The Norfolk and Western Railway , commonly called the N&W, was a US class I railroad, formed by more than 200 railroad mergers between 1838 and 1982. It was headquartered in Roanoke, Virginia, for most of its existence. Its motto was "Precisio ...

1776, a high-hood unit, is a static display at the

Virginia Museum of Transportation The Virginia Museum of Transportation (VMT) is a museum in Downtown Roanoke, Virginia, that is devoted to the topic of transportation. History The Virginia Museum of Transportation began in 1963 as the Roanoke Transportation Museum in Wasena ...

. * Northern Pacific 3617 is preserved at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum. It has been restored to active service. * Seaboard Coast Line 2024 is preserved at the

Southern Appalachia Railway Museum Southern Appalachia Railway Museum is a railway museum headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. History The Southern Appalachia Railway Museum was founded in 1990. The museum collects antique locomotives and rolling stock to run on ...

Oak Ridge, Tennessee Oak Ridge is a city in Anderson County, Tennessee, Anderson and Roane County, Tennessee, Roane counties in the East Tennessee, eastern part of the U.S. state of Tennessee, about west of downtown Knoxville, Tennessee, Knoxville. Oak Ridge's po ...

, and is currently painted in the Clinchfield Railroad scheme as of December 2017. * Southern Pacific 7457 is a static display at the Utah State Railroad Museum in

Ogden, Utah Ogden ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately east of the Great Salt Lake and north of Salt Lake City. The population was 87,321 in 2020, according to the United States Census ...

. * Wisconsin Central 7525 is at the

Illinois Railway Museum The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM, reporting mark IRMX) is the largest railroad museum in the United States. It is located in the Chicago metropolitan area at 7000 Olson Road in Union, Illinois, northwest of downtown Chicago. Overview ...

and is operable. It is one of two WC SD45 units to be painted in an Operation Lifesaver scheme.

References

Sources

* * Pinkepank, Jerry. ''Diesel Spotters Guide 2.'' * * ''Diesel Spotter's Guide, Volume 2.'' Kalmbach, 1994. * White, Dr. W. J. ''How Diesel Electric Locomotives Operate.'' Peat. 1998.

Bibliography

External links

EMD SD45 Original Owners
{{Authority control SD45 C-C locomotives Diesel–electric locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1965 Freight locomotives Standard-gauge locomotives of the United States Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway locomotives Great Northern Railway (United States) locomotives Chicago, Burlington and Quincy locomotives Chicago and North Western Railway locomotives Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad locomotives Milwaukee Road locomotives Pennsylvania Railroad locomotives Philadelphia and Reading Railroad locomotives Norfolk and Western Railway locomotives Northern Pacific Railway locomotives Diesel locomotives of Southern Railway (U.S.) Southern Pacific Railroad locomotives St. Louis–San Francisco Railway locomotives Union Pacific Railroad locomotives