[GL][T-176] ENDEARING EMDs: The Indelible SD45 Locomotive | Trains 21

[@Trains21]

The following links are for videos on this channel that were referenced in this video in the order that they were mentioned: [T-146] THE RISE AND FALL OF THE EMD SD50/SD60 LOCOMOTIVES: www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAnUE... [T-160] HOW RAILROADS WORK: THE TROPICANA JUICE TRAIN www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dwyw-... [T-129] THE EXOTIC PLM LEASE FLEET www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dwyw-... [T-118] REMEMBERING THE CHESSIE SYSTEM www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvikb...

[@brianburns7211]

Trains21 I liked the video. SD45 is one of my favorite locomotives. My check ride with the roadforman was on a SD45 when I graduated engineer school. Nice shot of CP 7310 when explaining the 40 and -2 series. She is the best puller of the D&H/CP 7300 series.

[@kittysirenhunterco2392]

They are unavailable?? To watch

[@dwill4039]

Great video I was really hoping you would touch on the sd45b’s and sd45-2b’s though.

[@loritobin2578]

The Illinois Railway Musuem has a Wisconsin Central #7525 SD45. Starting to look weathered and worn, but still running!

[@Trains21]

Yeah, I'm planning to get out there and see it.

[@trainknut]

"As of 2020, most have been retired and scrapped" I'm not crying I swear, I just got something in my eye...

[@desertbob6835]

The crank probs on the 20V were caused by the length of the block weldment, which put just enough twist on the main bearing alignment to strain the crank beyond capabilities while on bad track, which would cause accelerated main bearing wear, thus allowing for harmonic vibration to get out of control. This was the same issue that doomed Alco's notoriously bad 244s. EMD figured out that the wear on the rear main was a reliable indictator of crank twist and issued a maintenance bulletin that routine bearing clearance checks be done to maintain tolerance. Of course, SP didn't have time for that, and rear main bearing web cracking and crank failure were common. SP's "solution" was to change governor setup to yield only 3200 HP, thus largely negating the power-per-unit advantage of the 20V. This led to 3 different governors in shop stores for the 20V...3300, 3600 and 3800 HP, and the shops would use them indiscriminately just to get the unit back on the road. ATSF, though, had very little crank problems on theirs at 3600 HP. The difference? SP's historically lousy jointed rail, which would twist the long frame, and thus the prime mover, far worse than on ATSF's well maintained Steel Highway. After SP went down the tubes after the SPSF merger fell apart, Anschutz's RGI had the better remaining 45s rebuilt on the cheap by M-K as essentially SD40s with big radiators, a swap that started in SP's own R20 rebuilding program at Sacramento before Anschutz closed all the shops.

[@Trains21]

That's an awesome treasure trove of information, thanks for sharing it with us! I didn't know any of that!

[@gordonvincent731]

I once worked as an engineer for the Santa Feces out of Denver, August 1978 to October 1981. I ran "Hustle muscle" twice out of Denver. The problem with the ex-GN six axle engines was the weight, only 368,000 lbs. All that power and no weight. Going up to Palmer Lake, CO., I would see the wheel slip light constantly flickering, then cycle into dynamic braking from the Lake downhill, and the wheel slip would be flickering again! These engines were flat land screamers, but they were not mountain goats at all. The SP SD45's we would get in pool service were mountain mashers. They weighed in at about 410,000 lbs or more.

[@Trains21]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing your memories.

[@midlandcompound]

Excellent video.

[@Henry5623]

Something worth mentioning too (that sadly wasn't in this video) is the former Erie Lackawanna SDP45 #3639 currently painted as Conrail #6670 that is in the process of being acquired by The Youngstown Steel Heritage Foundation. They have plans (once the unit is acquired) to originally repaint it into fresh Conrail paint before ultimately restoring it to it's former EL livery. It's not operational but COULD (in theory) be restored to operational condition should favor fall on the unit. That said the unit is still in the process of being acquired and any available funding that could be sent it's way would definitely help in preserving what might possibly be the ONLY SDP45 to end up in preservation. Google/KZbin it for more information but it definitely is a unit deserves preservation.

[@proudfoamer2]

You had me at EMD!!!! My SD45 story. Juniata is famous for there rebuild program but out on the left coast the ESPEE Sacramento locomotive works was but pretty good too. So good that when ESPEE rebuilt their SD45 fleet in the early 80's that had to send them out of state to avoid a $75,000.00 per rebuilt unit tax charge. They would rebuild a motor, test it, drain it and send it up to Oregon for 90 days to avoid the taxes on it. After 90 days the rebuilt could roam the system tax free, lol. If a unit entered California within those first 90 days, it had 72hrs. To leave the state are it would be hit with that new locomotive tax. One road foreman kept one rebuilt in the state for 6 days in Donner helper service. He got demoted in transferred to Tucumcari, new Mexico. Anyway that's my SD45 story. Another great video about another great EMD product.

[@Trains21]

Wow, that's really interesting.. Thanks for the memories!

[@nickbrown1256]

The subject of the video, SD-45, caught my eye and interest. I bought an Athearn SD-45 (blue box) in HO back in 1967. I settled on the EMD demo unit. I liked the metallic blue. Anywho, I pulled it out of storage about a year ago and put it on a test track. It still runs great.

[@Trains21]

Nice.. That's gotta be worth a few bucks!

[@stephenroberts4895]

One interesting note about Southern Pacific's SD-45's: Due to the cooling troubles in the mountains, particularly Donner Pass and running very heavy trains at 7 mph instead of the EMD recommended minimum of 20 mph, the production of 1,260 SD-45's and EMD's dominance was almost not-to-be. SP and EMD went back and forth for several years on the cooling issues versus the minimum 20 mph recommendation. That was until SP acquired some GE U-30C and U-330C's and tested them over Donner Pass. The result: The GE's did NOT derate like the EMD's. Since SP at that time was a key player to locomotive builders, EMD realized they needed to come up with a better design to SP's operating conditions, thus the famous Tunnel Motors were created. SO... the SD-45's contributed to railroad history in more ways than so many normally know about. Their history is fantastic, but to also read about the run-up to the Tunnel Motor in the SD-45's history really makes it quite amazing.

[@Henry5623]

I have to question the information you stated about EMD's handling altitude poorly in contrast to GE since that goes against literally everything I've ever gathered about SP over the years. Especially in the Pacific Northwest SP's SD40/45's essentially dominated practically every mainline train in existence simply because they - DID - in fact handle altitude better then GE's. Hence why during the 70's and 80's practically every train in every mountainous division on the system was EMD powered and that remained the case throughout the Dash-7 and Dash-8 era only coming to an end when GE was able to produce high HP six axle DC traction models of the Dash-9 variety as well as AC traction units whereby then SP only pulled the EMD's out of the mountains simply dude to new higher HP and AC traction unit's having superior performance compared to lower HP DC traction units. Further supporting what I said about EMD's handling altitude better was the fact that during the early GE years on SP (when they weren't all mothballed at Taylor yard or elsewhere on the system) SP specifically kept their GE's on the lower flatland routes away from higher altitudes putting them on about any train they could. Granted GE's Cooper Bessemer prime mover was more less an embarrassment on all accounts no matter how you look at it with how ridiculously unreliable and maintenance intensive it was especially coming from a company the size of GE which obviously could do much better. SP's EMD's showing slow speeds at altitude wasn't a problem of altitude but rather of option style. SP always opted for fewer but longer heaver trains. Hence why even in flatland routes it wasn't uncommon to see SP trains moving at slower speeds compared to their competitions trains. Put that same traffic in mountainous divisions and slow speeds as well as high radiator temperatures are going to be the norm. EMD was simply trying to build the 'super units' that SP wanted but weren't really technologically possible at the time. Plain and simple SP was learning the hard way you can't have you cake and eat it too.

[@stephenroberts4895]

@@Henry5623 In my statement, Henry, I was referring to the numerous tunnels that SP had to contend with on their system. My obvious mistake was not directly mentioning that and the period of time prior to the tunnel motor design arrival. Where I read about those issues SP was having with the SD-45 versus the U-30/U-33's was in a "Locomotive Magazine" article by TRAINS magazine. I'd also like to point out that what you mentioned in your statement about SP locomotive assignment is quite accurate. I've looked at many video's of SP's Donner, Tehachapi, and Cascade lines and it's interesting to note that there are very few GE's seen on those lines, until the Dash-7's, 8's, and 9's/AC4400's and higher horsepower EMD's arrived.

[@Henry5623]

​@@stephenroberts4895 I agree completely that despite all the bad the could be said about early GE's they did have one unintentional trick up their sleeve having nearly frame level mounted air intakes for their radiator systems by default. Under that perspective yes GE did have a advantage in tunnels before EMD caught on. One could argue too that GE's 4-cycle design firing half as often as EMD's (at the time) 2-cycle platforms gave GE a slight cooling advantage in tunnels as well. It's a shame it took GE so long to build their own 'in house' prime mover to overcome the reliability issues the Cooper Bessemer platform had. A lot of early GE's suffered unfairly because of it. Not that EMD didn't learn their lessons the hard way as well. With their tier-4 units having issues almost literally right out of the factory some lessons remain to be learned apparently. On the topic of EMD's in the mountains especially in the Pacific Northwest if you can find some footage of the 50's and early-ish 60's it was almost comical the size of some of SP's power consists used on their lumber drags then. First generation 4-axle units powering those trains with at times literally a dozen or more units on the head-end alone just to get it moving not including helper power. Needless to say management was happy to see higher HP six axle units start arriving on the property lol...

[@lorenjoplin417]

Your are extremely knowledgeable about these SD45’s. I worked for Santa Fe in management and they were very impressed with them when new. They did have a problem breaking mounting bolts where the block was bolted to the frame. Keep up the good detailed work

[@Trains21]

Thank you Loren for watching, enjoying and your kind words.. You must have some great memories of the Santa Fe.

[@BaltimoreAndOhioRR]

Have a great new week!! 🏆

[@Trains21]

Thanks Dave, you as well!

[@Trains21]

@Eugene Stoner That's right!

[@789train]

i worked sp 1970 diesel pit in sparks nevada and i remember sd 45 x 9500 which came over donner pass fairly often. the whole electric cabinet in the back of the cab was covered with little plastic stick on plaques.....this locomotive equipped with this and that. it was rumored to have 5000 hp. they were very careful where it was put in a train.

[@Trains21]

That's awesome.. Thanks for sharing your firsthand knowledge of a bygone era.

[@blackbirdgaming8147]

That’s cool that you had first hand experience with an SD45X. Officially they were rated for 4200 hp. I guess the story goes that only a few were made because it took an outrageous cooling system to keep temperatures under control, due to the higher than normal hp rating.

[@RMSTitanicWSL]

The SD45X had 4,200 hp--which was still quite impressive. SP ordered three and then got three of the EMD SD45X demonstrators. 9500 was a solo order, 9501-9502 came right after them, then they got the ex-demonstrators became 9503-9505. Not sure how long they lasted, but I don't think any of them made it to 1980.

[@fernandomarques5166]

Brazil has a variant of the SD45 built by EMD, the DDM45 it uses the SD45 "Snoot" frame with the DD35/DDA40X trucks, they still have their 20 cylinder engines. Truly beautiful machines.

[@Trains21]

Yep, I've seen picture of them.. Thanks for the info.

[@fernandomarques5166]

@@Trains21 no problem, mate.

[@edwardmounsey9208]

Just came across this video today. Thank you for such an interesting and informative dialogue on the SD45 locomotives. Have a merry Christmas. Edward

[@rickeyhall4254]

I was a big fan of the Southern Pacific sd45,sd45t-2,sd45x in sdp45 especially the sdp45 since they ran in the San Francisco bay area Commute Service from 1973-1985.

[@donstor1]

You are the first person to talk about the 45 in depth. When I found some on Trainz a new era, I looked to find out about them and all I could find was the reference to the broken crankshaft. This video would have been a great reference when I was trying to learn all I could about these engines. I ended up using two SD 45 types in SP colors, one of then the tunnel motor unit.

[@Trains21]

Thanks for watching Don.. I'm glad that I could help you understand these amazing machines a little bit better.

[@illinoiscentralrailroadfan6015]

Illinois Central Railroad #7000 was scraped sometime between 1984 and 1986

[@jw4620]

At last a good easy to watch train video, and it's about EMDs too! Thanks!

[@Trains21]

You're welcome, thanks for watching.

[@nightrider6769]

AC got to say you put a lot of hard work into your channel I applaud you for your effort and for you taking the time to do it and educate us. A lot of what you talk about goes over my head but I find it interesting and will continue to watch your channel.

[@Trains21]

Thanks Tony, I'm glad to have you as a viewer.

[@Cnw8701]

I see CSX 8954 from time to time when I take the backway home from where I work. I've got some pictures of it on my phone, too! 😄 I work at FedEx Ground in Norcross (which is literally 10 minutes up the road from the museum). Ironically, the NS Armour Yard in Chamblee is one of our customers! I saw a FRED going down the conveyor belt and it had a shipping label slapped on it! Lol

[@Trains21]

Wow, that's funny!

[@keystoneraillink2110]

14:40 when he talks about UP and BNSF becoming Eastern Railroads got me thinking about what could happen should NS and CSX fail. These options are mostly for the sake of a playful discussion meant to gather opinions and other’s views on things. These scenarios are a few that I thought of, whether they’re realistic or not. Even if mr AC doesn’t see this or comment on it himself, I’m open to hear anyone’s point of view. A.) the western railways take over the northeast coast B.) the Canadian railways take over the northeast, while NS and CSX hold their place in the south C.) Conrail returns to the northeast D.) the state and federal governments invest in regional and shortline railroads, portioning sections of former class 1 railroad property to class 2 and 3 railroads to run freight over and to maintain, leaving little trackage for NS and CSX, other than some high speed mainlines. Personally I’d like to see the short lines and regional railroads get more investments as I think it would create more rail-related jobs and make railroading in the northeast a little better.

[@anthonyventi362]

Keystone Cache & Compass Railfan Productions A. Sounds Real B. Sounds Real C Possible Maybe D Real

[@keystoneraillink2110]

Anthony Venti I agree. A and B seem like they’d be for the best in the sense that The railroads for those two options are the best equipped for handling conditions in the northeast, in terms of fighting winter weather instead of taking detours around the conditions

[@Trains21]

Technically, Conrail still exists in the Northeast via the Conrail Shared Assets region of NYC/NJ.. I think UP and BNSF will touch the Atlantic and NS and CSX will become fallen flags.

[@keystoneraillink2110]

Trains21 then the only NS and CSX locomotives anyone would see, would be among UP’s heritage units. And thanks for that tid bit about conrail. I’ve heard it’s still around, just didn’t know how or where.

[@Trains21]

@@keystoneraillink2110 No problem, also, Conrail exists in Philadelphia and Detroit.. Plus what I told you is just my opinion.. I don't want that outcome but these corporate heads are too shortsighted for their own good these days.. We'll just have to wait and see.

[@irish00011]

AC: Your belief that Western U.S. Railroad companies, will eventually be operating on the Eastern and East coastal states, may have some validity. I reside in Northeastern Indiana (Fort Wayne). Just two days ago, Norfolk Southern announced they were moving 12 specific job titles to Pennsylvania from the Fort Wayne District. You know how they sell it to the folks of the community there departing; as realignment for better efficiency. In my neck of the woods, we have just two Railroad entities; I.E., Norfolk Southern and the Chicago, Fort Wayne, and Eastern (the old Pennsylvania line). In counties and cities to the North of me; it is CSXT through Garrett, Indiana, and Norfolk Southern's Chicago Line through Kendallville, Indiana. By the way, the place for which I was employed for 27.5 years before pensioning in 1996, was the 911 emergency call and dispatch center. We were located in the Rousseau Center (CITY/COUNTY Building), and we had an enormous emergency power generator for the premises. It was located in the bowels of the building. It was a V16 cylinder Detroit two-stroke diesel-powered engine (manufactured by Gen. Mtrs. Inc.). It went into test mode every Wednesday at noon for 10 minutes. The noise it created was deafening.

[@wishusknight3009]

Good old 16v71 genset.

[@Trains21]

Those are some memories, thanks for sharing.. I know the regions you speak of..

[@iusetano]

Of coarse I hit the like button. I always enjoy watching and listen to this type of video that you make. Excellent video AC.

[@Trains21]

Thanks Hans.. I enjoy having you along for the ride.

[@fritzd2116]

Great work, AC! Learned a bunch about one of my favorites. I always loved the sound of that V20... Years ago when I was doing my undergrad in Bozeman, MT I spent many enjoyable hours train watching on the MRL-this when the v20 engined 45s and 45-2’s were going strong. Great memories.

[@Trains21]

Glad you enjoyed it Fritz! And I appreciate you watching and your kind words!

[@stetson01]

EMDs were built towards the minimum as possible side, because they were top dog. GE came in built locomotives on the rough and tough side, durability #1. GE wasn't as user friendly as the long time king EMD, so as GE aged it changed. So did EMD, building bigger and heavier locomotives to keep up. So today, GEs are the king of the road on mainline heavy haulers and EMD king of the user friendly locals, switchers, and short line railways. Buying locomotives always has been a political twisting of the arm thing anyway, if you don't buy some of ours, we won't sell you any parts for your older models. Around 45 years working on all manufactures and models, in shop and on the road, you could get an older EMD to work but a GE you most always had to have a part. Now a days you just go the the computer and see what the fault is and if can be reset or bypass the problem.

[@Slim_Slid]

This is a great explanation.Nowadays modern GE units are the most reliable when it comes to serious tonnage.Better dynamic braking and tractive effort overall.In addition to that GE has seemed to be better in technological advancements and software.EMD began to face problems after discontinuing the GP40-2's & SD40-2's with the GP50's & SD50's being the start.GE started to improve after realising what issues were present with the 23,30,& 36-7's including overheating dynamic grids.The introduction of microprocessors were apart of that.As much as any EMD motors are solid,that's never doing much,the newer GE units completely overthrow them in the pulling and traction category.The biggest issue to EMD was EPA regulations and CAT/PRLX ruining the company.The only benefits of most EMD units in modern times are quicker loading traction motors and switching,espiecally the MP15DC's and GP40-2's.Although GE units can still come in handy for that.Everything else you've already mentioned in good summary.

[@Shane_Geiger]

Two Seaboard SD45-2s ended up on the Duluth Missabe and Iron Range. The numbers on the Missabe where 416 and 418 i can’t remember there scl numbers how ever. They where rebuilt in the 90s to SD40-3 specs and even made it for a few year into the CN ownership both where scrapped in 2007

[@tommybritton9273]

Nice work ac. I waited in anticipation all weekend for this and wasn't disappointed 👍

[@Trains21]

Thanks Tommy, I'm glad I didn't let you down.

[@wesw9586]

Love these videos! So much cool info with the history of specific engines and such. Keep up the good work.

[@Trains21]

Thanks Wes.

[@danieledwards5455]

The Utah Railway leased 11 sd45s, from the southern pacific with the 20 cylinder engines in the 1980s they hauled coal over price canyon for 6 short years and were all scrapped in 91,great locomotives for there time to bad they didn't keep one of them in a museum all but 2 had the bloody nose scheme,Utah railway painted 2 of them grey and had white stripes on both noses, they were 9140-50 they had a sound of there own,I have only seen 2 clips on KZbin about them

[@thomasboese3793]

Wisconsin Central Ltd bought up a lot of SD45s on the used market from BN and ATSF as well as a few F45s an FP45 and one SDP45 that came the long way from EL. All of the units were derated to 3,000 HP. If it had a straight frame it was wanted... I do wish a few more "F"s would have been acquired. The FP45 was my favorite loco to work on during my short career at the bankrupt Milwaukee Road.

[@randallvos]

Actually, they were de-tuned to 3200 hp when first acquired, then re-rated to 3450 hp after the electrical system was upgraded in the 90s..........

[@EmpireBeltRR]

Thanks for the in depth look at the SD45s! Another fine job exploring historic locomotives. Thanks A.C.!!!

[@Trains21]

Thanks for watching John!

[@lnproductions3227]

Awesome video A.C. very informal and factual! Good work as always!

[@Trains21]

Thanks Man!

[@roballen5670]

Excellent as always AC. Keep up the great work.

[@Trains21]

Thanks Allen.

[@richarddrum9970]

I remember seeing a number of the SD45 engines on the Penn and occasionally one of the units on the D&H. I did see two units on the Erie Lackawanna and they did indeed “hum” at slow speeds. I have several on my HO scale layout.

[@Trains21]

Nice.. Thanks for the memories.

[@mikeflynn1629]

Wow thanks for this video. I've never seen before any of your other videos this one was so in-depth it was great I never knew the Southern Pacific owned that many as SD45 I started following the railroads in 1977 Fullerton California

[@Trains21]

Glad it was helpful!

[@darrelgibbs4898]

I love to watch those EMD trains they are great to watch thankyou for this

[@EntertainmentWorldz]

Wonderful capture

[@Trains21]

Thanks Man

[@spacecalander]

This was an amazing informative video, thanks for the hard work. WOW

[@Trains21]

No problem Spacelander, thanks for watching.

[@steelcityrailfan4808]

I see the SD40T-3’s (tunnel motors) pretty often here in Western PA

[@steelcityrailfan4808]

And the SD38’s

[@KCSM_1200]

In Mexico there are about 13 SD45 but most are from FERROMEX and one from KCSM but that locomotive was donated to a museum in Mexico and the museum is called the Matamoros railway museum. Some Ferromex locomotives have the body of SD45, but they have the engine of an SD40-2 to spend less fuel and only Ferromex has few original SD45

[@garylarson6386]

MOST RAILEOADERS DONT REALISE HOW BIG THE 20 CYL SD45 WAS 645 cu per cyl , just a monster engine, I am retired from the c&nw rr

[@erikmcc804]

thanks this was amazing and THE SD 45 IS MY MOST FAVORITE ENGINE EVER!!! and the air wings on the rear :-)

[@Trains21]

Thanks for watching Erik!

[@NSWNY]

I believe BPRR 462 was returning on 37T from the Rochester and Southern. Your videos are very informative, nice work AC.

[@joeldunsmore5159]

I got lucky i got to see Burlington Northern SD45s come thru alliance yard in nebraska and thru mitchell nebraska on coal trains and sugar beet trains as a child. My grandfather worked for CB&Q and BN from 1934 to 1981

[@Trains21]

I watched them on the SP Sunset Route in Texas for years.. Fond memories.

[@ALL-bj7mj]

Love the CF trailer @ 23.24!

[@Trains21]

A lot of the viewers agree!

[@calvingrondahl1011]

Fantastic! You mentioned the SD-45 in Ogden, Utah where I cartooned for the newspaper.

[@Trains21]

Awesome!

[@DONOLEY123]

AOK railroad just bought the 3098 sd45-2 off of the Genesee and Wyoming we have three now.

[@DONOLEY123]

It’s headed to Oklahoma City

[@afleetcommand]

Yup, those Yellow Jackets are pretty! Excellent video, thank you

[@Trains21]

Yes they are.. Thanks Commander.

[@garyolsen3409]

Where I grew up was railroad town. We had a switching yard 4 blocks to the east and tracks to the north and south of us. I really developed a love for trains and they and the tracks around us were a big part of my growing up. When I got older they just became a sort of nuisance having to wait for them at crossings. When I retired we moved to a part of the state where there are NO trains. I got into model railroading and got interested in train videos. It's not the same as living near them but it's OK

[@rnrailproductions5049]

Great informational video! It’s great to see this kind of genre make its way to U.S. locomotives. It’s works great for learning about Military vehicles and it sure works great for locomotives.

[@Trains21]

Thanks Jon.. I'm glad that you enjoyed it.

[@DoubleSpikeProductions]

Not to be nit picky at all. This is an awesome video and a lot of great valuable information. The Frisco railroad did however own SD45's #929 - #948 (19 total.) Not many but it did probably help bulster the BN fleet a little.

[@Trains21]

Understood, but I spotlighted 2 Frisco 45s fairly early in the video.

[@ericcallender1575]

Dude, this is super-impressive. I subscribed and will share with my model RR mates. TMRCI

[@Trains21]

Thanks Eric, that's much appreciated!

[@ThomasEide3318]

The Northern Pacific had problems with the SD45s slipping. Slip control helped the units become a main stay eventually.

[@Trains21]

Thanks Thomas, I didn't know that!

[@ALL-bj7mj]

As a son of a BN conductor, I never noticed, and just today, I noticed it in your video....That SD45 has a SD40-2 dyno-blister....never paid attention to that.

[@3006USMC]

Another masterpiece. Thanks AC.🇺🇸

[@Trains21]

No problem.

[@kainhall]

YES!!! MONTANA RAIL LINK!!!! i was gonna say.... i thought MRL still had some 45s with 20 holes MRL has ALL SORTS of old and strange power..... its a small railroad....but it hauls a LOT of heavy stuff up AMAZING scenery they are thinking of returning a passigner train to MRL track-age across southern montana to sand point ID missoula is REALLY excited about it

[@Trains21]

You should be, that'll be a nice touch.

[@JackCarsonsRailroadVideos]

And oddly enough i was talking about this last night how if NS kept doing what they're doing 14:40 ...

[@franks471]

I'm out of the loop. What's going on with NS?

[@Trains21]

@@franks471 The whole TOP21 Precision Scheduled Railroading they've been doing since July 2019.

[@nationalcapitalrails2088]

If I recall; a few of these got rebuilt into SD40-2's (complete with SD40 [pre-Dash 2] carbodies) by VMV Enterprises during the 90's.

[@unity3596]

yea CR & CSX did some things with them

[@Waltervazquez599]

Fantastic vídeo my friend !!!

[@Trains21]

Thanks Walter!

[@taylorbaggarleyunionpacifi5399]

Thanks video buddy of the sd45 dude southern pacific and Montana rail link

[@russelltilley6308]

I can't remember what year it was accomplished but the N&W set a record of longest train pulled with three SD45's up front and three more 300 hopper cars back and another 200 hoppers on the end

[@dave6695]

A slight correction. The N&W units weren't "geared" to operate long hood forward. Their control stands were set up for long hood forward operation. Gearing has nothing to do with determining which "hood"....long or short leads.

[@chuckgilly]

I thought he was referring to things like the direction the horns point, the location of the bell and the control stands (some had dual control stands), not traction motor gear ratio.

[@Trains21]

@@chuckgilly Exactly right.

[@langer1972]

I like the pictures of the NW trains.

[@tedferguson4082]

Bnsf has rebuilt a sd45-2 with a 16 cylinder engine and it is 1572 and used as a remote control switch engine in Casper Wyoming

[@Trains21]

Thanks for that info Ted!

[@thomasnativo6491]

I know The SD40T-2S like 3014 that came by Southern Pacific Railroad and it had some EMD power now its Susquehanna

[@Cadian92nd]

awesome videos learning lots thanks!

[@Trains21]

You're welcome Tyson, I'm glad you learned something!

[@ACLTony]

Excellent presentation!

[@RailfanNetwork]

Great and informative as ever! Love your channel!!!

[@Trains21]

Thanks Tony, You're not so bad yourself!

[@AtTheCrossingProductions]

Tacoma Rail 3001 was an SD45 for the PC, but has been rebuilt to a SD40-3. I have a video of it on the channel, still holds its original horn

[@Trains21]

Cool, could you send me the link so I can check it out.

[@AtTheCrossingProductions]

@@Trains21 Sure thing! here it is: kzbin.info/www/bejne/Y5-4omOEjKaZZrs

[@wildbill9919]

You can see EL 3607 and IC 7000 in the Pentrex video Classic Chicago Railroading.

[@Trains21]

Thanks for the info!

[@RDC_Autosports]

all 2 stroke diesels cannot scavenge air, so it’s coming with some kinda forced induction via blower or mechanically assessed turbocharger, the ship engines i’d work next to (i serviced generators) had huge electric squirrel cage blowers to get them started and idle, then 4 to 6 small abb turbocharger took over from there, like the emd they have axial turbocharger. also they retired the 20cyl because it kept breaking crankshafts, i worked for progress rail in GA 05-07 ✌🏻

[@Trains21]

That's a very different perspective on EMD engines.. Thanks for sharing those memories.

[@RDC_Autosports]

Trains21 i do service 1 710 20cyl at the water treatment plant here but not often, mainly 1 month loadbank service ✌🏻🇺🇸

[@kenneymitchell2179]

What's up AC? As always very nice video and I look forward to the tunnel Motors video.

[@Trains21]

Thanks Kenney, we're looking about 2 or 3 weeks.. I do one locomotive feature per week.

[@SantaFe19484]

Awesome video! Let me know next time you plan on going to Cove!

[@Trains21]

Will do.

[@douglasskaalrud6865]

Two Minnesota railroads that didn’t purchase the SD45 and were smart not to were the Soo Line and the DM&IR. The mechanical staffs of these railroads knew their business much better than EMD did. Soo Line, like its parent Canadian Pacific, engorged itself on the 3,000 HP 40-series (original and dash-2 variants). Missabe went with the 2,000 HP SD38 building blocks. In both cases, EMD tried to sell them the SD45 concept but that math didn’t fit these two. Why? They were both drag railroads. Speed was not essential so the gain of 600 HP and speed at the cost of turbocharger maintenance didn’t make sense, and both railroads accurately foresaw the difficulty of trying to unload the monsters on small railroads in the secondary market. Just think though, if Soo Line had purchased SD45s there would have been two railroads with the funky look of the slanted radiators sans dynamic brakes (C&NW being the other miscreant.)

[@RMSTitanicWSL]

A Soo Line SD45..... That'd be pretty neat to see. C&NW's SD45s were interesting units because of their lack of dynamic brakes. Weird that EMD would try to sell DM&IR of all railroads on speed. I'm thinking their marketing department was asleep at the throttle when they tried that. Soo Line at least had a decent amount of merchandise traffic. Frisco would have done well to figure out their needs better. It seems they regretted their SD45 purchase to a degree. They were certainly happier with their GP40-2s and SD40-2s.

[@Slim_Slid]

The SD45's weren't great units.This includes the SD45-2's,SD45T-2's,F45's/FP45's,SDP45's,and SD45M's.All of these units had crankshaft failure and block flex because of the 20-645-E7's hence why most units were rebuilt with 16-645-E3's. Southern Pacific owned 357 units while 167 became SD45R's and then 87 were rebuilt into SD40M-2's thanks to MK Rail.About a dozen of those units were also given fabricated radiators from SD40-2's.6 SD45M's that were acquired from Erie Lackawanna also became SD40M-2's under Southern Pacific.Many of the SD45T-2's were rebuilt as SD45T-2R's before being redesignated as SD40T-2's with Union Pacific.Wisconsin Central just adjusted the governors and derated the horsepower on their SD45's which actually solved many issues. Aside from insufficient dynamic braking,the units actually had noticable acceleration and traction towards serious tonnage next to the SD40-2's.The tractive effort was almost comparable to the likes of GE C30-7's and C36-7's. However,the problems that these units caused ensured that EMD didn't make any mistakes while the GP40-2's & SD40-2's were in production.This was one of the preventive contributors that sealed the greatest longevity for them.Also,decades later EMD made the 20-710-G3B-EC's for the SD80MAC's.Because of what failures happened with the 20-645-E7's in the SD45's many years before,EMD knew what mistakes to not repeat and actually were successful in making the SD80MAC's reliable and having the units retain the title of being reliable at that with the highest horsepower.Unforunately EMD ruined their recovering notoriety once more by creating the SD90MAC's in later years which were more problematic and unreliable than GE's AC6000CW's.

[@vincentcalvelli6452]

AC....another informative video, just brilliant

[@Trains21]

Thanks Vincent.

[@erikmcc804]

I love this catch thanks and BTW I SUBSCRIBED :-)

[@Trains21]

Thanks Erik

[@Rev1Kev]

The Great Lakes 1000 foot freighter Stewart J Cort is Powered by 4 EMD 20-645-E7 engines

[@VisionsofEd]

Great video AC thanks for the info

[@Trains21]

No problem, Ed.

[@loritobin2578]

Nicely done video!

[@larryblaha]

Great information.. Thanks for posting...

[@Trains21]

Thanks Larry, and also thanks for watching.

[@RandCooley]

So much information my poor brain is now a pool on the floor. Worth every second 😁

[@Trains21]

Thanks Rand.. Haha.. I'm glad you like it!

[@thomasnativo6491]

All that I know is that the 3016 came by Southern Pacific now Susquehanna 3014 used to be Southern Pacific then it was Painted over to Susquehanna 3012 also came Southern Pacific now Susquehanna the SD45 from Susquehanna before Susquehanna use to be Burlington Northern in the 1980s now as years went on the Burlington Northern became Susquehanna as 3618 and 3634 3012 3016 and 3014 were SD40T-2S and Same as the Blue bird Locomotives that NYS&W Railroad used to run the SD40-2S from NYS&W 3022 used to be a GP9 number 3020 now its 3022 and 3010 came by the Rio Grande Railroad which on first site had a train horn problem so 3010 Retired from NYS&W Railroad

[@KevBygrave]

Great video A.C!

[@pauljung7611]

I have sd 45 and sd45_2 on my train simulator I have the this locomotive version of Santa fe locomotive.

[@mile290productions3]

i've heared 567's, 645's, and 710's.

[@ricksadler797]

Cool video thank you 😊

[@noisefuljoy]

Thanks for the great clip. I can offer a small correction. The Osceola and St. Croix Valley is in Osceola Wisconsin, just across the St. Croix river from Minnesota. Pronounced Ah-see-OH-la.

[@Trains21]

Thanks Joy.

[@jerseyrailbuff4147]

Nice job once again! Love your videos and the SD45-2s. I don't know if you meantioned this already but, CSX 8886 (operating on the CSAO) is the only *physical* CSX SD45-2 left in service. The only reason they haven't retired it, is because it has SD40-2 internals.

[@Trains21]

Thanks Man, I didn't know prior, but I just learned it through you and another commenter further down the list.

[@jerseyrailbuff4147]

No problem, always happy to help!

[@paullindberg9230]

Hello AC Its been. awhile got caught up in some medical things. every thing. turned out good.I thank the good Lord above..Shure hope all is well on your end

[@taylorbaggarleyunionpacifi5399]

Good video buddy sd45 is awesome unit

[@Trains21]

Thanks Taylor

[@taylorbaggarleyunionpacifi5399]

Trains21 your welcome thanks being my Freind

[@darrelgibbs4898]

thankyou for bringing up new video what dose the T146 do get back to me and thankyou

[@shnimmuc]

fantastic job

[@Trains21]

Thanks Man.

[@seanpepple6110]

another awesome video

[@Trains21]

Thanks Sean.

[@joshuawilliams8024]

Speaking of the 80MACs they are on the selling list

[@Trains21]

Are they??

[@DiamondMaster20]

Great video!

[@Trains21]

Thanks Diamond!

[@chuckgilly]

Long live the SD45, Viva la SD45.

[@Trains21]

That's right.

[@yankeesforlife24]

Unfortunately MRL only has one operational 45 left

[@Ottos_ScLm_Race_videos_2009_on]

Did you ever do the SD45T-2 that was in the system 3 years ago. I looked and never found it.

[@Trains21]

I made a separate video about the Tunnel Motors.

[@Hunter_Dawso]

I hate to be picky but Caterpillar acquired EMD in 2005 and the name became Electro-Motive Diesel. Then the name was changed to Progress Rail in 2016.

[@brianburns7211]

hunter dawso Not correct. EMD was first purchased by an investment firm. Cat bought EMD later on through its Progress subsidiary. They still use the EMD now Electro Motive Diesel because of the brand recognition.

[@Hunter_Dawso]

Brian Burns I remember seeing a letter in 2016 saying that all EMD branding would be changed to Progress Rail. Even newer “EMD” locomotives have Progress Rail on the builders plate.

[@brianburns7211]

hunter dawso Maybe so, but the Cat takeover wasn’t until fairly recently.

[@mt.rushmore7916]

MAN....this is a MASSIVE amount of great info.....only at the speed of light. Wish you could have gone a bit slower.

[@Trains21]

Thanks Rush, and I appreciate your words.. I understand your feelings, I try to move fast because it keeps the pace high which makes it less likely people will fall asleep on it! haha