EMD SD45 series official thread (covers all variations)

The easiest "elephant ear" locomotives to find photos of - because they exist today - are some SD40-2s operated by MRS Logistica of Brazil.

http://www.railbuss.com.br/trens/galeri ... 07_028.jpg
http://www.railbuss.com.br/trens/galeri ... iro_03.jpg
http://www.railbuss.com.br/trens/galeri ... iro_01.jpg
http://www.railbuss.com.br/trens/galeri ... iro_04.jpg
http://www.railbuss.com.br/trens/galeri ... iro_02.jpg
http://www.railbuss.com.br/trens/galeri ... 07_002.jpg
The trailing unit here appears to be an SD45:
http://www.railbuss.com.br/trens/galeri ... RJ_019.jpg

I was wondering could a SD45 Series Engine work or be converted to run Passenger train Service???

MBTA1052 wrote:I was wondering could a SD45 Series Engine work or be converted to run Passenger train Service???

Sure, I believe it was the Erie Lackawanna, the SP and the Great Northern?, had SDP45 locos. They had an additional section on the back that housed a steam generator for the passenger cars.

Here is a link from Wikipedia that shows a few pics and has lots of info

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMD_SDP45

On Erie Lackawanna's (and later Conrail's) SD45-2s -- the ones with the extra large fuel tanks -- where were the air tanks located?

The Erie Lackawanna SDP45's (and SD45-2's) did *not* have steam generators for passenger service..
EL used the longer frame of the SDP45 to gain an extra large fuel tank, for increased running distance and speed.
(they could get all the way across the system, NY to Chicago, without refueling.)

even though the EL units did not have a steam generator, and were not used in passenger service, they will still referred to as SDP45's by EL and Conrail..

Scot

MEC407 wrote:On Erie Lackawanna's (and later Conrail's) SD45-2s -- the ones with the extra large fuel tanks -- where were the air tanks located?

The main reservoirs are located in the long hood under the radiators, hence the loovers in some of these doors.

scottychaos wrote:The Erie Lackawanna SDP45's (and SD45-2's) did *not* have steam generators for passenger service..
EL used the longer frame of the SDP45 to gain an extra large fuel tank, for increased running distance and speed.
(they could get all the way across the system, NY to Chicago, without refueling.)

even though the EL units did not have a steam generator, and were not used in passenger service, they will still referred to as SDP45's by EL and Conrail..

Scot

While EL may have referred to all their SDP-45's as such, I believe that EMD referred to EL's second order as SD45M's.

ELSDP45 wrote:The main reservoirs are located in the long hood under the radiators, hence the loovers in some of these doors.

Thanks! Always wondered about that.

How many SD45's are still in service?

It depends on what you consider an SD45. Many (probably hundreds) of SD45s which were rebuilt to SD40-2 specs are still in service. I have no idea how many original, 20-cylinder, unmodified SD45s are still in service, but it has to be a pretty small number.

Can't be more than 10 or 20. The SD45 had a great renaissance from about 1995-2005. WC, MRL, and NYSW all had them and ran the wheels off of 'em, and they all looked good, too. NYSW's are all worn out and gone, MRL's are slowly being retired by ACe's, and CN's first order of business at WC was to sideline their 45's.

This was really an unexpected event, as most class I's other than SP dumped their SD45's in the early 1980's. I grew up along Conrail's ex-NYC line in South Bend, and Conrail always ran the newest power on the market. No slumming it for them. When NS took over, we went back a generation and a half - SD40's and hi-hood geeps started showing up out of history books. They also instituted a run-through with WC every day that featured triple SD45's leading. What a show.