I had the chance to head south a ways and sit along the busy Union Pacific mainline out of Chicago. I sat just west of Elburn, IL. I was treated to 18 trains in just over 5 hours. I saw a mix of power, but I was surprised by how many SD40-2’s (Some Old)I still saw in regular service and even in intermodal service. I also got lucky and caught a consist of all Brand New (Some New)locomotives heading westbound. Plus I caught three different CNW/UP (In Between)patched locomotives. Below are some pictures from along the UP mainline on August 12, 2006.
Former CNW now UP 3046 leads a trio of westbound SD40-2’s. Now with some of these pushing 30 years old that proves the reliability of the SD40-2.
Hiding in the consist is UP #2990 still wearing most of its CNW green and yellow paint and the trademark bell on the nose.
Now some of that New Power UP #5511 a GE (GEVO) leads a westbound consist.
UP #9763 leads some middle aged power with a nice surprise as the last locomotive.
Sporting 2 numbers its UP patch number and CNW #8575 rolls past, I believe this was the last CNW to be patched, only 2 remain unpatched plus the new heritage.
UP #8433, more new power, leads the hot westbound intermodal/pig train
The bell gives it away as again a trio of reliable SD40-2’s lead a westbound train.
As for the SD40(-2s), remember there is still a big demand for them on short lines and regionals, and UP has a huge inventory of parts, so you will see them around in yellow and gray for a long time still.
If memory serves me, UP had the biggest fleet of them all, followed by SP.
They are a good locomotive, dependable, and hard working.
Add in the fact that it would be easier to list the railroads that did not buy SD40s than the ones that did…there is a bunch of them still out there.
I don’t care what anyone says… I LOVE SD40-2’s… They are, by far, my a favorite locomotive. That’s probably why my collection has nearly 1000 UP photos, because SD40-2’s abound around there. It’s great. My 2nd choice is the SD70…
Great photos… I need to get out to Elburn one of these days…
You’ll find that most of the SD40-2s you’re seeing on this line are ex-CNW–they’re still around because of the cab signals and Automatic Train Control, and won’t stray far from their old home rails (they use them fairly regularly on the manifests to Clinton, Council Bluffs, Des Moines, and Eagle Grove, and that stack train you saw was probably only going as far as Global III in Rochelle). Not all of the former CNW units have their nose gongs any more; many have been rebuilt with conventional bells in the conventional location.
I do not know what the sizes of other railroads’ fleets are, here is SP’s fleet.
Southern Pacific had 229 SD40T-2s (if I remember correctly) delivered 1974-1980, 89 SD40s (86 of which were rebuilt to SD40-2 standards) delivered 1966 & 1968 and rebuilt 1980-1981, 1 SD44-2 (rebuilt to SD40-2 standards from a SD45 in 1979(?)), and 133 SD40M-2s delivered 1994 (I have heard that they were delivered 1993-1995). In addition Cotton Belt had 10 SD40T-2s. In addition Rio Grande bought 73 SD40T-2s. I think that four had been wrecked by the time RGI bought SP. The total is 535. Of course a few of these were wreck by the SP/DRGW merger and even more by the time SP got its SD40M-2s, so SP never actually had that many.
Great information on the SD40-2’s. I know the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad here in Wisconsin has recently gotten a bunch of SD40-2’s. I guess I never thought about the ex-CNW ones hanging around on the old CNW mainline for cab control, especially since CNW ran left handed running.
