This is a really great thread, I am learning alot about the SDP40Fs. You guys gave me some great ideas for an Amtrack trains to use at Denver Union Station. I really like the ice breakers on top!
I will probably model 2 Amtrack trains, the Superliner cars, and the Amtrack streamliner cars
I wanted to model the D&RGW Ski Train, (Rapido has some Ski Train passengers cars suppose to be released soon) they used the SDP40Fs, does anybody know if SDP40Fs are available in D&RGW?
Hi Motley [8D] - I may be mistaken but I think that the Rio Grande Ski Train was hauled by F40PH’s that were painted in the Rio Grande livery.
Chatanuga - Thanks for posting those photos. It’s interesting to see the changes on the same units over the time.
My thinking regarding the front “smile” chain would be to form it with a piece of either 28 or 26 gauge wire that has white insulation. [;)]
Well, looks like I’m the odd-man in this group since I seem to be the only one that’s modeling early-Amtrak’s east coast trains (Silver Star, Silver Meteor, Champion,). [:D]. BTW: I saw unit #611 regularly in Phase III with a K5LA horn, assigned to the Star.
Interestingly, my Athearn SDP40F #629 came equipped with a roof mounted “icicle cutter”. It’s a cool looking feature, but I’m going to (somehow) carefully remove the cutter and mail it to a modeler that requested it when I stated that I was modeling strictly east and southeastern trains and would not need it. 
I am modeling two Amtrak trains as well. Amtrak California Zephyr ran with Superliner cars and has evolved over the years from Phase 2 paint to Phase 3 and later. For over 10 years, the Amtrak CZ was pulled by F40PH’s in mostly phase 3 paint, until replaced with the GE diesels sometime in the mid-late 1990’s.
The San Francisco Zephyr bypassed the D&RGW except for a re-route or two when there was a derailment on the UP. It did run between Cheyenne WY and Denver and on to Chicago. It was pulled by pointless arrow SDP40F’s and heritage equipment such as ex-Santa Fe baggage cars, and baggage-dorms, coaches, lounges, diners and sleeper drawn from former Santa Fe, SP, UP, California Zephyr and a few other roads. It was basically an interesting dogs breakfast of passenger cars.
The San Francisco Zephyr SDP40F’s were drawn mainly from road numbers 582-587 and 622-629. That is why this recent run with 583, 586, 625 and 629 all have ice-breakers, because they ran over Donner Pass where ice cycles often hung from tunnel openings during the winter.
As for dome cars, reportedly the SP banned most domes from Donner Pass and only ran allowed the former SP 3/4 domes and a few lower profile eastern domes. But in the late 1970’s, the clearances were improved in anticipation of the planned Superliner cars so regular domes could be seen on the SFZ train in the late 1970s. I’
I’ve seen pictures of them on the Floridian, Champion, and Silver Meteor.
Hi Rio Grande,
[8D] Yep…629 became a regular on the Silver Star and Silver Meteor. These are shots I took of her on the Silver Star. Phase III, minus icecutter sporting a K5LA. The SCL engineer climbng into her cab is Murray Thomas (r.i.p). A very pleasant gentleman.
Interestingly, an Amtrak station agent that I knew back then commented to me that the “West Coast trains” always seemed to get the newer equipment first. May explain why 628, 629, 611, 618, 622, 632, 634, 639, and some others were gradually transferred over to the still, steam-heated east coast trains. But…as a railfan there were zero complaints from me!
Wow so much great information from everyone here, I really like learning locomotive history from such great people here.
You simply can’t learn this stuff from books or the internet.
I see in your photos #629 is in phase 3 paint without the icebreakers. Id guess when it was repainted was after mid-1980 when the San Francisco Zephyr was re-equipped with F40PHs and Superliner EQ.
I wonder if #629 ever ran in pointless arrow without the icebreakers as you plan to model? Might have been they were removed when 629 was shopped and repainted and reassigned to the southeast. I’ve read that most of the SDP40Fs that were repainted to phase 3, were repainted in the 1980/81 time frame.
Maybe the choice would be to renumber a Genesis Phase 3 SDP40F to #629 if that engine never ran in Phase 1 without the icebreakers. [:O] Or were they removed before repainting to phase 3? If so, it probably didn’t run in that configuration long. Are there any post SFZ photos of #629 in phase 1 without icebreakers as you propose to model?
The only time I got to run an SDP40 was at the end of 1979, when I was a fireman on the New Haven extra board (for Conrail).
I got called for the evening hostling job at Cedar Hill yard, by the old (and still standing) concrete coal tower. They still had an engine terminal there at the time, not long afterwards I believe it was closed.
New Haven still had a pretty good Amtrak diesel shop back then, and they were rebuilding some of the remaining SDP40’s one-at-a-time. They weren’t used on the Shore Line any more, I remember asking about them and one of the guys said that they were hard on the track. But the NH shop did the rebuilds and sent them back out west and south where they were still being run.
One was at the engine house that evening, waiting to go out, and the foreman needed it moved, so I got up and looked around.
I recall how spacious the cab was, after being on F-40’s. Much more room, perhaps because the rear wall was “further back” from the seat. I still remember thinking it was as big as a living room!
I went back inside to get the hand brake, lots of room back there, too. There were two steam generators and a big water tank – a BIG tank. I’m wondering if the water sloshing around in the tanks of two units coupled back-to-back could have been the source of the derailment problems that they had with them.
Anyhow, I moved it around a little, put the brake back on, and got off. I seem to recall the number “640” – it’s been 41 years. That was the only time I ever worked the hostling job at Cedar Hill.
I still think of that engine as quite a piece of machinery. I don’t recall ever seeing another one in my career on the railroad…
Oldengineman - that is so cool that you got to operate an SDP40F! I did get a cab ride in one and yes, it was more spacious than an F40PH’s cab.
RioGrande - Here’s a shot that I got from a modeler a while back, but it’s sparse on details.
Something I had not even realized in looking at more photos. I had become used to seeing the white wrapped nose “smile chains” on the SDP40F’s that I saw regularly in my young railfanning days. I had not realized that most of the SDP40F fleet had originally been equipped with chains were actually wrapped in black. Always something new for me to learn! [:P]
That photo may be from the first year of operation before the ice breakers were installed. Number 629 looks pretty new in that photo. The baggage car appears to be a “rainbow” scheme from one of the private roads not yet repained in Amtrak paint. There were a few like that when the SDP40F’s were first in use.
I don’t think I’ve seen any photo’s with the white wrapped chains but most of the photo’s I’ve looked at are western.
Photo sample of a “Smile” chain, unit 599 in the northeast corridor.
I wonder now if white was used for better visibility of it. But they tended to grime up rather quickly.
Not sure, and just guessing but in looking at this photo, I’m thinking that 28 gauge electric wire comes close to the approximate thickness. What do you all think? (credit to photographer)
Sure did:
Amtrak_631-641_DC-3-23-79 by Edmund, on Flickr
[Click to go to Flickr where you can enlarge the photo quite a bit]
Amtrak_SDP2 by Edmund, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
