this was from Illinirail (and Wisrail too now). Keats (Gluefinger) posted it.
" Several UP SD40-2s were taken on a train to Belvidere, presumably for
storage. I heard something along the lines of UP 4000-4060 (which are
SD70Ms) being reassigned to the Proviso service unit from a UP
employee, and it looks like this is starting to happen. Get your
shots now!"
well i must say i have mixed feelings about this. i never did like seeing CNWs wear armour yellow. now i soon wont have to. but on the other hand, they were still SD40-2s. and i loved them all the same.i have fond memories of seeing them in action in Altoona, and about 100 pictures from the time. it was great hearing the 645 working hard at night (or during the day). i would sit and wait for hours for the crews to arrive and put the train into action. i will miss those units.
but i’m sure they will find new lives on regionals, shortlines, leasers, etc. so i’m not all too sad about this.
i wont mind seeing SD70Ms replace them. i’ve always been a fan of UP SD70Ms. so this will be nice for me anyway.
One SD40-2 powered train I always enjoyed seeing on the UP was the “acid train” from the Kennecott copper mine. Four or five SD40s plus a weathered UP covered hopper as a spacer car pulling a long string of white KCCX tank cars. Nowadays, the train’s powered by a mix of SD70Ms and GE AC44s, although an SD40 will occasionally show up in the locomotive consist.
Let’s seperate the HYPE [:O] from the bovine flatulence. [C):-)]
1/24/2008 Union Pacific retired 60 SD40 “family” locos. 4 of those have C & NW roots - 2960, 2980, 3019, 3072. [vintage 1972-1974 6811, 6832, 6838, 6907]
When UP assimilated the C & NW in 1995, they took ownership of 132 SD40-2’s. Easily spotted when leading by their NOSE bells [^] they LOVE cameras. With these retirements, ONLY [:(]
At any rate, that’s still a sizable chunk of SD40-2’s to be retired in one fell swoop. Considering that UP has already retired a fair number of SD40-2’s and the same which can be said for BNSF and CP, I would opine that within 4-5 years, SD40-2’s as a whole will be relatively uncommon. Nothing lasts forever.
The ex-CNW SD40-2s are the ones equipped with ATC. Once they are gone you won’t see one leading on the Chicago-Council Bluffs main.
I saw the same message forwarded to a group I’m on. There was a comment about some of the ATS equipment being taken off some of the SD40-2s and put on some of the SD-70Ms.
Because of these equipment requirements, you probably won’t see much of an increase in non-equipped SD40-2s on lines where the ex-CNWs run.
Does this mean we will see more SD40s on Wisconsin and Southern? It is kind of cool seeing the iconic road freight locomotive with those enormous porches locally here in Madison, and the whistle of the turbocharger is way cool, but isn’t using a 3000 HP 6-axle turbo unit on a way freight a bit of overkill?
Let’s seperate the HYPE [:O] from the bovine flatulence. [C):-)]
1/24/2008 Union Pacific retired 60 SD40 “family” locos. 4 of those have C & NW roots - 2960, 2980, 3019, 3072. [vintage 1972-1974 6811, 6832, 6838, 6907]
When UP assimilated the C & NW in 1995, they took ownership of 132 SD40-2’s. Easily spotted when leading by their NOSE bells [^] they LOVE cameras. With these retirements, ONLY
Probably a moot point if they’re all going to go, but if you’re just looking for the nose gongs, you’re going to miss a lot of the former CNW SD40-2s. Quite a few, when they were repainted and otherwise rehabbed at North Little Rock, lost the gongs in favor of more conventional bells inthe usual location. (Of the five ex-CNW SD38-2s we have left on our hump, only two have the old bell on the nose, and it’s purely ornamental even on those units, with the conventional bell doing the ringing.)
title changed. after i was forwarded an email in which i was being insulted behind my back (even by one of the people i trusted as a best friend) for being too vague and starting rumors, i figured i had better change the title to be more accurate.
Rumor has it that the Union Pacific will keep running these sd40-2s until they suffer some sort of major brerakdaown Ithink they have all been repainted there no patch jobs out there CNW FOREVER Larry
I saw an ex-CNW (UP 2994 → C&NW 6862) and ex-SSW (UP 2842 ->SSW 9399) today on the CN! The ex-SSW was spittin’ flame thru the exhaust tho…strange for an EMD!
I’m glad I got a shot of CNW SD40-2 #6887 when it was passing through UP’s North Salt Lake Yard in the late 1990’s. It amounted to a grab shot, but I’m glad that I’ve got it in my collection.
Just wondering, but what does the “A-A-A” stencil on the SD40-2s CNW owned signify?
C&NW classifies its units by weight, with the class displayed on the locomotive cab side:C&NW
Weight
Class Pounds Per Axle Pounds Per 4-axle Per 6-axle Locomotive
Locomotive
C 0 to 49,999 0 to 199,999 0 to 299,999
B 50,000 to 54,999 200,000 to 219,999 300,000 to 329,000
A 55,000 to 61,499 220,000 to 245,999 330,000 to 368,999
A-A 61,500 to 64,499 246,000 to 257,999 369,000 to 386,999
A-A-A over 64,500 over 258.000 over 387,000
Reportedly DRGW 5371 is “officially” retired and under Steve Lee’s protection until donation plans are finalized. Hope this in fact come to pass. But i remember once when 3300 was said to be retired a while back, yet was soon returned to UP’s roster, so it’s hard to say with UP’s computer.