BN(sf) 7023. One-of-one. Uno. Only. Nothing else like it. Sharp eyes will notice the SD40-2 underfame, trucks, and an SD45 long hood. Wreck rebuild...
Looks like the stencil still says SD40-2? At times BN/BNSF is surprising. Stuff you'd think they'll scrap, is rebuilt. And vice versa. Perhaps they do it just to keep us guessing? Boxcab E50
Hey Guys, The only difference between the SD40-2 and the SD-45 is the long hood and the electronics. The current roster showes that number as an SD40-2. Shannon WP LIVES (no matter what the UP says)
Not to mention the trucks, the frame length, the prime mover.... Indeed, it is an SD40-2. The roster number is SD40-2, the internals, and the electronics are SD40-2, but the long hood screams SD45. A sharp-eyed member of another forum pointed out: "Even sharper eyes will note the extended dynamic brake fairing, the beaded blower duct and -2 fans common to all late production SD45s..."
This is why I was asking what the reference was. The Dash 2 line is such a completely different approach by EMD. Boxcab E50
Morning Guys, I went to my EMD service manuals for each locomotive. The SD40 and the dash 2 have the same prime mover and the same traction motors. The dash 2 is an electronics upgrade along with some other minor internal stuff. The SD-45 used the orginal SD-40 frame prime mover traction motors and so on. I am sure as the SD-45 progressed there were changes. But the SD-45 used to same standard components to save money and keep it from being so expensive that it would not be in the price range of many railroads. New designs cost money. Shannon WP LIVES (no matter what the UP says)
Same frame. Different hood lengths due to the prime mover variants. Different prime movers, albeit same series. (645E3 16 cyl 3000hp versus 645E3 20 cyl 3600hp.) Different wiring/electronics. Different trucks, although they looked similar, and used the same traction motors. (Same basic truck, brake cyls, and traction motors.) Different brake rigging (design) on trucks. Standard EMD Flexicoil design versus the so-called High Adhesion trucks on Dash 2. The Dash 2 line was a switch from the philosophy of adding more and more horsepower. A beginning to using more finesse in applying power to rails. The SD45 came foward in the process, with the SD45-2 model. Boxcab E50
Great topic! I was interested in the SD45 body first, then did notice the Dash-2 trucks.... I did not catch all of the other details until they were pointed out. Harold
Ya want older power????? On the rock trains running thru Sherman you'll find lots of SD40-2s, even a pure lashup of these once-ubiquitous mainline beasts. For a while, we even had several SD45-2s as rock train power, but they've mostly stayed around south Texas on the rock trains there.
Just for everyone's info, if this is the locomotive I think it is, it is truly an SD40-2. The SD45 appearance is the result of replacing the long hood which was damaged in an accident. I don't remember all the details and I'm simply going from memory, but somewhere in one of the BN Annuals this rebuild is described. The shops needed to replace the long hood, and they just happened to have a spare SD45 long hood laying around. BN wasn't concerned about baffling railfans; they just wanted their locomotive fixed! If I recall correctly, at the time the loco was numbered 7330.
OOPS. Yes. SD45= 40' 0" bolster centers SD40-2= 43' 6" bolster centers SD45= 65' 9&1/2" over couplers SD40-2= 68' 10" over couplers Boxcab E50
Yes! How about rolling the clock back 30 years! To see again the C series U-boats. A gaggle of old F units. Or better yet, how about ALCo C636 power up front! Boxcab E50
A lot of"rebuilds" have different roster listings than their appearance.... A lot of locos can be rebuilt to SD40-2 specs.... including SD40's, SD45's, SD45-2's, SD40-T2's, SD45-T2's, even SD35's (the prototype for the original SD40 was built on the SD35 body and underframe) I know CSX had a lot of "SD40-2's" that externally resembled stock SD40's. Harold
"Welcome bnBretski! It's good to have you here!" Thanks. I hope I can contribute as much as I hope to learn here. As for the "odd duck" in question, I went digging to get more info. There actually are 2 ex-BN locos with an appearance similar to this one, and I had them both in mind. According to the "1980-1991 BN Annual" by Robert Del Grosso, this loco was indeed in an accident (a rollover) sometime in the 1980s. It was rebuilt at the West Burlington shops in Iowa and was simply fitted with an SD45 long hood that "just happened to be sitting out back". However, I was mistaken as this unit has always been 7023. I was also thinking of SD40-2 6330 (not 7330) which was actually rostered as an SD40C. It was repowered with a Caterpillar engine in an experiment to save fuel. This engine required larger radiators than a stock SD40-2 had, so the radiators (and hood to fit them in) from retired SD45 6440 were put on the 6330. In addition, this unit also had snow shields over its inertial air intake screens, making it look really odd. I was fortunate enough to catch this loco in Tulsa about 10 years ago, although my photographs of it are far from spectacular.
