EMD SD45

The SD45 is a six-axle road switcher diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between 1965–1971. It has an EMD 645E3 twenty-cylinder engine generating 3,600 hp (2,680 kW) on the same frame as the EMD SD38, EMD SD39, EMD SD40, and EMD SDP40. As of 2017, most SD45s have been retired, scrapped, or rebuilt to SD40-2 standards.

EMD SD45
Great Northern 400 in service at the Minnesota Transportation Museum
Type and origin Power type Diesel Builder General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) Model SD45 Build date Dec. 1965 – Dec. 1971 Total produced 1,260
Specifications Configuration: ​  • AAR C-C Gauge 4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Length 65 feet 8 inches (20.02 m); 65 feet 9 ^1⁄2 inches (20.053 m) on some units starting early 1968. Loco weight 368,000 pounds (167,000 kg) Prime mover EMD 645E3 Engine type V20 diesel Generator AR10B Cylinders 20
Performance figures Maximum speed 71 miles per hour (114 km/h) Power output 3,600 hp (2,680 kW) Tractive effort Starting: 92,000 lbf (410 kN) Continuous: 82,100 lbf (365 kN) @ 11 mph (18 km/h)
[1][2]

Design

1,260 were built for American railroads before the SD45-2 replaced it in 1972, along with the related SD45T-2 'Tunnel Motor'.

SD45s had several teething problems. Reliability was not as high as anticipated; the twenty-cylinder prime mover was prone to crankshaft failure from engine block flex. Though it produced 600 horsepower (450 kW) more than the 16-645E3 in the SD40, some railroads felt the extra horsepower wasn't worth it, even after EMD strengthened the block to eliminate crankshaft failures. At low speeds, when tractive effort was adhesion-limited, the SD45 provided no advantage over the SD40.

Buyers included the Burlington Northern, Southern Pacific, Santa Fe, Pennsylvania Railroad, the Great Northern Railway, Union Pacific and the Northern Pacific Railway. (Contrary to enthusiast legend the SD45 was not a "fuel guzzler." It produced marginally more power per unit of fuel than its 3,000 hp (2,240 kW) counterpart, the SD40. It did consume more fuel at idle than the 16 cylinder prime mover in the SD40, and at the time US railroads typically left a locomotive idling when not in use.) Many SD45s still exist, some rebuilt with sixteen-cylinder 645s for lease companies. SD45s and SD45-2s owned by Montana Rail Link retain their 20-cylinder prime movers. Wisconsin Central used to roster a large fleet of SD45s, but its sale to CN has resulted in the retirement of the entire fleet, with mass scrappings. Montana Rail Link is also starting to sell some for scrap.

Original owners

Railroad	Quantity	Road Numbers
Electro-Motive Diesel (demonstrators)	4	4351-4354
Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway	125	1800-1889, 5590-5624
Atlantic Coast Line Railroad	10	1024-1033
Burlington Northern Railroad	96	6472-6567
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad	15	516-530
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad	10	4000-4009
Chicago and North Western Railway	61	901-920, 937-977
Colorado and Southern Railway	7	868-874
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad	26	5315-5340
Erie Lackawanna Railway	34	3601-3634
Great Northern Railway	27	400-426
Norfolk and Western Railway	115	1700-1814
Northern Pacific Railway	30	3600-3629
Penn Central Transportation Company	5	6235-6239
Pennsylvania Railroad	130	6105-6234
Reading Company	5	7600-7604
Seaboard Coast Line Railroad	35	2010-2044
Southern Railway	70	3100-3169
Southern Pacific Transportation Company	317	8800-8963, 8982-9051, 9069-9151
St. Louis-San Francisco Railway	49	900-948
St. Louis Southwestern Railway	39	8964-8981, 9052-9068, 9152-9155
Union Pacific Railroad	50	3600-3649
Totals	1260

Preservation

• Great Northern 400, named "Hustle Muscle", was the first production SD45. It is preserved by the Great Northern Railway Historical Society, based out of Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was in active service on the Minnesota Transportation Museum's Osceola and St. Croix Valley Railway until it suffered a crankshaft failure in its original 20-645E engine, requiring a replacement engine to be installed. BNSF Railway overhauled a 20-645E engine from a retired ex-ATSF SD45-2 and donated and installed the new engine in January 2019.
• Erie Lackawanna No. 3607 is preserved at the St. Louis Museum of Transportation. Restored to EL colors, this unit is a static display.
• Norfolk and Western No. 1776, a high-hood unit, is a static display at the Virginia Museum of Transportation.
• Northern Pacific 3617 is preserved at the Lake Superior Railroad Museum. It is being restored to active service.[3]
  

  NP 3617, a preserved SD45 in Minnesota
• Seaboard Coast Line No. 2024 is preserved at the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum.[4]
• Southern Pacific No. 8800/7457 is a static display at the Utah State Railroad Museum.
• Wisconsin Central No. 7525 is at the Illinois Railway Museum and is operable. It is one of two WC SD45 units to be painted in an Operation Lifesaver scheme.

References

1. Foster 1996, p. 58
2. Solomon 2014, p. 277
3. Glischinski, Steve (15 September 2015). "NP SD45 appears on a photo freight in Minnesota". Trains. Retrieved 16 September 2015. (subscription required)
4. "Seaboard Coast Line SD45 being restored for museum". Trains. 9 September 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2015. (subscription required)

Sources

• Foster, Gerald L. (1996). A Field Guide to Trains of North America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-3957-0112-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Pinkepank, Jerry. Diesel Spotters Guide 2.
• Solomon, Brian (2014). GE and EMD Locomotives: The Illustrated History. Minneapolis, Minnesota: Voyageur Press. ISBN 978-0-7603-4612-9.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
• Diesel Spotter's Guide, Volume 2. Kalmbach, 1994.
• White, Dr. W. J. How Diesel Electric Locomotives Operate. Peat. 1998.

External links

• EMD SD45 Original Owners