EMD GP40-2

EMD GP40-2
A pair of EMD GP40-2 coupled back-to-back for use in remote control switching operations - Tampa, Florida.
Power type Diesel-electric
Builder General Motors Electro-Motive Division
General Motors Diesel (GMD)
Model GP40-2
Build date 1972 - 1986
Total produced 1,143
AAR wheel arr. B-B
Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Prime mover EMD 645E3
Aspiration Turbocharged
Cylinders 16
Power output 3000 hp (2.2 MW)

An EMD GP40-2 is a 4-axle diesel road switcher locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division as part of its Dash 2 line between April 1972 and December 1986. Power was provided by an EMD 645E3 16-cylinder engine which generated 3000 horsepower (2.2 MW).

Contents

Production

Standard GP40-2 production totalled 861 units, with 817 built for U.S. railroads, and 44 for Mexican roads. In addition, three GP40P-2s, passenger versions of the GP40-2, were built for Southern Pacific in 1974, and 279 GP40-2L(W) and GP40-2(W) units, equipped with wide-nosed cabs, were built by General Motors Diesel (GMD), for Canadian National and GO Transit between 1974 and 1976. Of the CN units, 233 were built with a taller and lighter frame to allow for a larger fuel tank. These units were officially classified GP40-2L but are commonly referred to as GP40-2L(W). The balance of CN's fleet, 35 units, and the 11 unit GO Transit fleet, used standard frames and smaller fuel tanks; they are often referred to as GP40-2(W) but are classified as GP40-2. Total production of the GP40-2 and its variations totalled 1,143 units.

Although the GP40-2 was a sales success, it sold fewer units than the earlier GP40 and the contemporary GP38-2 and SD40-2 models. The popularity of high-horsepower 4-axle diesels began to decline with the GP40-2, with 6-axle models gaining in popularity for their superior low-speed lugging performance.

Performance

Like the SD40-2, the GP40-2 has a long-standing reputation for reliability, and a large number of GP40-2s are still in service. Changes such as the modular electronics system improved reliability over the GP40. Their high power-per-axle rating, however, meant that they were better suited to high-speed service than low-speed drag freights, where they were prone to wheelslip. With the oldest GP40-2s now well over 30 years old, many (notably GP40-2Ls) have been retired from Class-1 railroads and sold to regional or shortline railroads.

Spotting Features

The GP40-2 car body retains the high spartan lines of other EMD locomotives of the same era, with a beveled nose and an angular, slant-roof cab. There are three large radiator fans at the rear of the hood and a single fan in the middle for the dynamic brakes (if equipped). The radiator intakes are smaller than those of the later GP50, and the walkways lack the end "porches" of the 6-axle SD40-2.[1]

The GP40-2 can be distinguished from the earlier GP40 by the oval-shaped water-level sight glass at the right rear of the long hood; bolted (rather than hinged) battery boxes ahead of the cab; lengthened walkway blower duct; and various minor cosmetic differences in the front air intake and rear hood doors.[2] A number of GP40-2s also came with the new Blomberg M-type trucks, with single-clasp brakes, rubber pads replacing the central leaf springs and a shock strut over each axle.

Phases

A number of minor changes were made to GP40-2s throughout their production run:

Original Buyers

Owner Quantity Numbers Notes
Atlanta and West Point Rail Road 1 733 to Seaboard System Railroad
Alaska Railroad 15 3000–3005, 3007–3015 3000 renumbered to 3006
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad 218 4100–4162, 1977, GM50, 4185–4256, 4287–4311, 4322–4351, 4422–4447 Chessie System paint
Boston and Maine Railroad 18 300–317
Chesapeake and Ohio Railway 95 4165–4184, 4267–4281, 4372–4421 Chessie System paint
Ferrocarril Chihuahua al Pacífico 29 1008–1036
Conrail 124 3280–3403 To CSX and Norfolk Southern Railway
Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad 37 3094–3130
Department of Transportation 1 003
Detroit, Toledo and Ironton Railroad 20 406–425 to Grand Trunk Western Railroad 6406–6425.
Florida East Coast Railway 24 411–434 433–434 were last built
Georgia Railroad 2 755–756 to Seaboard System Railroad
Kansas City Southern Railway 4 796–799
Louisville and Nashville Railroad 17 6600–6616 Family Lines Paint, to Seaboard System Railroad
Reading Company 5 3671–3675
Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac Railroad 7 141–147 to CSX
St. Louis – San Francisco Railway (“Frisco”) 25 750–774 to Burlington Northern 3040–3064
St. Louis Southwestern Railway (“Cotton Belt”) 56 7248–7273, 7628–7657
Seaboard Coast Line Railroad 26 1636–1656. 6617–6621 6617–6621 Family Lines paint; all to Seaboard System Railroad
Ferrocarril Sonora-Baja California 15 2104–2112, 2309–2314
Southern Pacific Transportation Company 68 7240–7247, 7608–7627, 7658–7677, 7940–7959
Texas, Oklahoma and Eastern Railroad 3 D15–D16, D20
Western Maryland Railway 35 4257–4261,4312–4321, 4352–4371 Chessie System paint
Western Pacific Railroad 15 3545–3559
Western Railway of Alabama 1 708 to Seaboard System Railroad

Units built by General Motors Diesel, Canada

Railroad Quantity Road numbers Notes
Canadian National Railway 268 CN 9400–9667, 9668–9677 CN 9400–9632 are GP40-2L, 9633–9677 are GP40-2W.
CN 9668–9677 are former GO Transit units purchased in 1991.
GO Transit 11 GO 700–710 Ten to CN 9668–9677 in 1991. One (703) to Miami Tri-Rail, later sold to Aberdeen, Carolina & Western #703.
Total 279

GP40P-2

Railroad Quantity Road numbers Notes
Southern Pacific Transportation Company 3 3197-3199
Total 3

References

  1. ^ Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter’s Guide. Milwaukee, WI: Kalmbach Publishing Company. ISBN 0-89024-026-4. , p. 67
  2. ^ Pinkepank, Jerry A. (1973). The Second Diesel Spotter’s Guide. Milwaukee, WI: Kalmbach Publishing Company. ISBN 0-89024-026-4. , p. 61

See also

External links

4-axle general purpose diesel locomotives built by GM-EMD