I’ve heard before that the original SD40 units (built prior to GM starting the Dash2 line) were not that popular, and that the reason was they suffered from problems related to wheel slip. I also heard that CP Rail was so disapointed with their units that they started buying the C630Ms from MLW to replace them. Are there any diesel experts that can shed some light on these issues and add any other information![%-)]
I wouldnt say that they werent popular. Quite a few people bought them. Heres a few that come off the top of my head,
GTW,DWP,CN,CP,ACR,SOO,PRR,B&O,C&O,WM,CNW,CGW,CB&Q,UP,SP,KCS,ATSF,GM&O,BN,DE,IC,L&N,MP,PC and SOU.
Not a bad group IMO.
I suppose sales wise they were popular but so were many diesels that turned out to have problems. For example the SD45/-2 turned out to have problems with crankshaft failures but that didn’t hinder their sales. Also the GP/SD35 had electrical problems related to the DC main generator being over taxed combined with it’s extremely complicated switch gear. By unpopular I meant in the sense that after the units were bought and in service for atime problems with their design began to pop up.[#oops]
1100 units for USA and Canada not counted export models.
| Order # | Date | Serial Numbers | Model | Road | Numbers | Qty. | Weight | Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7894 | 06.66 | 31766 | SD40 | ASAB | 506 | 1 | . | . |
| 7872 | 03.66 | 32036 | SD40 | ATSF | 1700 | 1 | . | . |
| 7908 | 04.66 | 32037, 32038 | SD40 | ATSF | 1701, 1702 | 2 | . | . |
| 7909 | 04.66 | 32039-32046 | SD40 | ATSF | 1703-1710 | 8 | . | . |
| 7910 | 03.66 to 04.66 | 32047-32055 | SD40 | ATSF | 1711-1719 | 9 | . | . |
| 5801 | 10.71 to 11.71 | . | SD40 | BN | 6300-6324 | 25 | . | . |
| 7998 | 05.67 | 33161-33173 | SD40 | B&O | 7482-7494 | 13 | . | . |
| 7159 | 04.69 | 34775-34778 | SD40 | B&O | 7497-7500 | 4 | . | .</ |
here is one that is 40 years old , it was in active service until it was retired earlier this year.
The SD40 would have sold far more if it didn’t have to compete with the SD45. But it the '66 line was introduced during the horsepower race so the stronger SD45 sold better. After a fwe years when the SD45 began to show its flaws, RRs that had bougth the 45s started buying the SD40. So by the time the dash-2 came out the race had settled down at 3000hp, and thus the stage was set for it to become the all time sales leader. I have read elsewhere that there were issues with the SD40 in the beginning so some RRs skipped to the 45. As for the SD45-2 i understood that the mechanical problems associated with the 45s had been corrected in the last years of the SD45’s production run. The dash-2 version didn’t have those problems.
According to wikipedia, the SD40 outsold the SD45 by fifteen locomotives. 1260 vs. 1275.
IIRC, the SD45 sold better in the beginning of the 645 production run, while the SD40 sold better in the second half and caught up and surpassed the SD45 when the crankshaft failures and fuel consumption became an issue.
ya know your old when a Diesel built the year your born is retired…and someone makes a big deal about it [#dots]
Here in the heat of the Pilbara, BHPBIO have 16, 40yr old 2nd hand (ex UP and SP) SD40’s working mainline (slaves) and 4 as yard shunt locos. There are 15 SD40R (ex SP) and 5 SD40-2 (ex UP)and 1 SD40T-2 (ex SP) used for spares.
They have their issues, but considering their age and the >50 temperatures in summer, they do an exceptional job.
In the yard, one SD40 will normally, haul loaded rakes of between 106 - 112 iron ore cars, weighing in excess of 15000 tonne.
On the mainline they are normally teamed up with either 1xSD70Ace LC or 1xGE AC6000 or if with a Dash 8 there are normally 2xSD40’s
Mainline train nowadays are either 212 or 318 cars long, with the locomotive consists, of either 4 (212 cars) or 6 (318) depending on locotrolled.
This means the loco consists are on the head of each 106 car rake, and are controlled by radio link from the front loco. All trains are 1 man operated, all mainline locos with exception of 40’s have ATP (Automatic Train Protection) fitted
200 car train weighs in at around 30000 tonnes, and 300 car 45000 tonnes.
If you are interested in checking out pictures and stats go to :www.railways.pilbara.net.au
Check out BHP Billiton
CP had problems with their early SD40s, however they are all relative. A big problem is that early SD40s were built without the IDAC wheelslip control, so in heavy coal train service like CP was using them, they had slipping problems. CP switched to M630s and after brief success found that the MLWs mechanical issues were bigger problems than GMDs wheelslip problem. Also this was about the time that GM came up with the IDAC wheelslip control which solved the slipping problem. Note that after the first two batches CP didn’t buy any more SD40s until after the SD40-2s came out.
I guess I should have said early SD40s. Either way hearing that those poor little EMDs could’nt cut it and had to be replaced by Alcos ( even if only briefly ) made my day![:D]
If they thought they had, slipping problems with the SD-40s ,I’ll bet the ALCO’s really showed them what wheel slipping was really like !