What changes did EMD affect to make SD45s effective locomotives. There were changes to the prime mover and cooling systems and perhaps other mods which became standard in the SD45-2 models. How were these changes made to pre dash 2 units already in the field?
Did the owning railroads follow the EMD pattern and did individual roads have their own changes as well? How about the NP, MILW, UP, GN and ATSF out west?
Thanks for the help.
Alan
Santa Fe modified the heck out of theirs (not always sucessfully, like the 4 SULZERS and the SD-CAT)…ATSF radiators, fittings and cranckshafts were not stock EMD by the time they left the property and many lost the 4-cylinder extension at San Bernardino. Santa Fe had the radiators leaning in all 3 directions and made the most of it. The electricals changed as well, especially around the main generator. (the Digital red LED readouts on the fireman’s side in the long hood was always a little spooky on a dark night in the yard)
SP did make changes (SD45R), but ran them for years successfully over Donner Pass unchanged. I remember that it was common to see 8-10 on a train of over 100 cars. You hear them for miles before they showd up…
That was a sound like no other, I miss that, I spent many nights camping up there and remember it well. [;)]
IIRC, Sacramento derated them to 3200 HP, however they retained their 20-645E3 engines and were very reliable.
Northlake, Ill. - Thursday, 24 July 2008.
During the mid-1980s through the early '90s I seem to recall reading that Espee’s Sacramento Shops rebuilt a substantial portion of their SD45’s, SD45-2’s, and SD45-2T’s into SD40-2’s, including 16-cylinder prime movers. Even with the rebuildings, these units retained their flared radiators.
Too, the rebuilt units had very distinctive “Sacramento Shops” cast-bronze builder plates affixed to the locomotive frame.
/s/ Bob
SP rebuilt many SD45s into SD45Rs in the earlier to mid 1980s and rebuilt many SD45T-2s (into SD45T-2s) in the mid to late 1990s. I have never heard of SP rebuilding them into SD40-2s. You may be thinking of the SD40M-2s that SP bought from Morrison Knudson in the early 1990s. These were rebuilt from SD40s, SD45s, and SDP45s. I do not remember if any were former SP locomotives, but if any were, it was a coincidence.
Also, the August 1990 roster I got from SP lists their SD45Rs as 3600 HP. An interesting note is that SP called them SD45-2s.
From Utah Rails:
http://utahrails.net/sp/sp-r8-grip.php
"
3200 HP or 3600 HP
Although all of the initial SD45R rebuilds were completed as 3200 horsepower units, over the following years, several units were in service as 3400 hp and as 3600 hp units. Sources at UP who were also part of the SP mechanical department have said that this was not a formal program, but rather a result of the railroad having to support two types of 20-cylinder equipped locomotives, the older, unrebuilt units, at 3600 hp, and the newer rebuilt units at 3200 hp. While the railroad tried to keep sufficient spare governors for each type at its several maintenance points, at times a 3200 hp unit needed a new governor, and that particular type of governor was not available, especially at remote locations, so the unit received a 3600 hp governor instead.
This change of horsepower rating is very apparent when the road’s locomotive data books are compared. In the January 1986 book, SP 7400-7536 are referred to as 3200 horsepower (EF632-R1), and SP 7537-7557 are shown as 3600 horsepower (EF636-R1). In the August 1989 book, all except SP 7516 are show as EF636-R1 to EF636-R3. SP 7516 is shown as EF632-R1.
The June 1991 locomotive data book only adds to the confusion, with SP 7497, 7500, 7507-7509, 7514-7519, 7522, 7524, 7526, 7528, 7532-7534, and 7542, a total of 18 units, shown as 3200 horsepower. All others are shown as 3600 horsepower. Sources at SP have said that many units were also in service as 3400 horsepower, although the locomotive data books do not seem to reflect this variation. This same June 1991 data book also shows the SD45Rs with classifications from EF636-R1 to EF636-R5."
I thought that the SP rebuilt one single SD45 with a V16 diesel and decided that the cost wasn’t worth it. As I recall it was renumbered as 7399 above the SD40R rebuilts and below the SD45Rs.
Basically, the problems with the crankshaft and the oversized radiators (which are actually pretty timid compared to today’s units) made the SD45s not worth the extra 600hp to some railroads. Others, like the Erie Lackawanna, loved them and had modified versions of them. I believe the derating in some cases took care of the crank problems, less stress…? Plus the 20 cylinder engine was really large, even for a locomotive. I wonder what would have happened had the experimental SD45X ever been produced? That supposedly had 4200hp. Must have been an absolute monster for the time.
Six SD45Xs were produced.Three EMD demo units and three for Southern Pacific.SP later bought the EMD units.
Yes, they called it the SD44-2. Railfans call it the SD44R.
Foamer there were seven SD45Xs, ya forgot the first one EMD #5740 that was kept as a demo.
Does anyone have a pic? I don’t believe I have ever saw one of these monsters.
Gabe
Here’s a shot of one of the SP SD45X units:
Preston Cook wrote an excellent article on SD45s in the May, June and July 1993 Railfan magazines, which mentions 3 problems SD45s had which were fixed in the SD45-2s.
Main bearing failures on the early SD45s became common, as some railroads allowed the bearings to go 5 years, as they were doing on the old 567s. EMD came out with new instructions for the inspection and evaluation of these bearings.
Crankcases were cracking at the welds which attached the crackshaft supporting A-frames to the crackcase lower stress sheets. EMD came out with a program to remanufacture and reinforce the welds and the railroads sent their crankcases in for repair. SD45-2s came out with the “D-foot A-frames”, solving the problem.
The turbochargers were prone to overheat/overspeed failures, resulting from combustion blowby in the cylinder power assemblies.
Thanks for all the information. I found the Preston Cook articles in my archives in the basement. I wonder why these did not show up in a key word search in the magazine article search at the mother site here at Kalmbach…
This information is related to the cosmetic restoration of the NP 3617 in MN.
…because Railfan was not a Kalmbach production?
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
I would hate to believe Kalmbach would be so provincial and insecure to allow that to happen.
Which is porbably not going to be for awhile.