SD 40-2

Drawings by Michael Eby (trainiax.0catch.com)

 The SD40-2 is arguably the best diesel locomotive to come out of any manufacturers erecting bays. Over a 14-year period 3,957 SD40-2's were built for virtually every Class A railroad in the United States. It was the world's most reliable and cost-effective diesel electric. Knowing this, Bison Rail officials asked their broker to find them some reliable units to add to their stable (or herd as the case may be). They came up with four units in three different configurations which we will elaborate on shortly. The SD40-2's came in four different short hood lengths as well as a high hood version (ordered only by SOU and N&W). The standard version was the 88" hood, with a couple of Western roads opting for the longer hood (or "snoot nose") to house LocoTrol equipment and/or toilet facilities. You can see the difference in the short hood lengths by looking at the drawings above with the "snoot" nose on the right and the standard nose on the left.

The SD40-2's biggest identifying feature are the long "porches" on either end of the standard unit. The reason for this is that they were built on the same 68' 10" frame that is used by the SD45-2 resulting in the extra space at either end. This space has been put to good use occasionally as crews have been seen sitting in their lawn chairs on the "porch" in a siding while waiting for an opposing train. They are also identifiable by the HT-C (high traction) trucks which were introduced on the -2 models.

The 4020 is a standard lo-nose unit which at one time wore the paint scheme of the ill-fated SPSF merger before being repainted back into ATSF colors. The 4822 is a long-nosed "snoot" version which was purchased by the Santa Fe for use with their mid-train slave units. The 4024 is a standard hi-hood unit which spent most it's time hauling West Virginia coal to the Port of Newport News, VA. The 4826 is interesting in that it was assigned to the Soo Line by the CP and even repainted into Soo Line colors but was sold to BR the same day it was painted. One of the stipulations of the sale to BR was that it be repainted immediately as it was never physically assigned to the Soo. Unfortunately, in their haste to do this, BR paint shop personnel did a poor job of repainting and in no time the Soo Line paint was showing through. It is one of 11 Southern SD40-2's that ended up on the CP. In the style of the "Tunnel Motors", each of the SD40-2 are painted in the colors of their home subdivision.

These assignments are as follows: 4020 (MN); 4022 (WC); 4024 (HN); and 4026 (CGW).

The differences between the SD40 & SD40-2 externally were as follows. The length of SD40 was 65' 9" versus 68' 10" on the SD40-2, and the length between truck centers was 40' on the SD40 and 43' 6" on the SD40-2. Also, as mentioned before the SD40-2 rode on the new HT-C trucks whereas the SD40 was equipped with the old Flexicoil trucks.

Below is an overhead shot of ATSF 5160 in which you can see the cooling fan arrangement on the roof.

Following are some specs on the SD40-2:

All in all, the addition of these SD40-2's to the fleet, along with the SD40T-3's previously acquired should provide Bison Rail with a very reliable backbone of 6-axle units which can do everything from hauling unit trains to speeding manifest freights to their destinations.

For those interested in learning more about the Norfolk Southern or the Burlington Northern Santa Fe, there are Webrings devoted to both these railroads and their predecssors.
Just go to your favortie search engine and type in "Norfolk Southern Webring" or "BNSF Webring". You can also visit their official web pages at www.bnsf.com or www.nscorp.com.

Drawing by Roland Ruesch (usloki.tripod.com)