I'm curren'tly looking at the March 2009 issuu of Trains Mag. I sadly see that CN, CP, UP, BNSF, CSX, and KCS are all retiring there 40-2's! That's very sad.This issue is sad period! Do these loco's have problems or are theay just old?
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Locomotives go in/out of storage all the time. This SD40-2 engines were produced starting in about 1971-1972 - They are getting a little 'long in the tooth'!
Jim
Modeling BNSF and Milwaukee Road in SW Wisconsin
jrbernier Locomotives go in/out of storage all the time. This SD40-2 engines were produced starting in about 1971-1972 - They are getting a little 'long in the tooth'! Jim
Jim do you think most of the locomotives are lease and ending their contract or they just a burden with the fuel prices.
Their just getting old and tired... so i'm told. With the down turn in traffic we just don't need as many units anymore. it olny makes sense to start with the oldest first when getting rid of stuff. Don't get me wrong. I'm a firm beleiver that locomotive development has done nothing but go downhill fast after the SD40-2's. on the positive side of things at least here on the UP we are supposed to retire at least 50 old C40-8's. that helps the sting of the SD40's leaving at least a little.
I am not sure how many BNSF SD40-2 engines are still owned by a leasing company. BNSF has been selling off engines over the years. Most locomotive leases are in the 15 year range, and the railroad will buy out the lease or return the unit at the end of the lease.
As far as fuel prices, the SD40-2 is not as fuel efficient as an 'ACe' or 'GEVO'. But that is not the big problem(remember, it is 'paid for'). Two issues do arise:
Thank's for the feedback fellow foamer's!
With the new regulations and age problems, it might just be time for them to go, but I would hope not. They are classic locomotives and built to last, and I can't imagine a loco such as the SD40-2 being gone forever.
I drove a 88 International that would outrun anything on the road however the dang thing drank fuel like a PIG. I left that company and the boss sold her to someone that wanted her for one reason only the motor in it. It is called simply they are getting old and WORN OUT. Most of them have well over 2-3 MILLION MILES on the frames if not more. How many times can you expect the shops to rebuild them and expect the frames to hold together. Even the best welds and heat treats do fail after awhile.
Sometimes the newer ones don't hold up so good...
http://www.fuzzyworld3.com/3um/viewtopic.php?p=22678#p22678
I read somewhere that SD40-2s are still cost-effective if used for 60,000 miles a year or so. They can also be used for switching and local freight, where some of the newer ones are a bit big. A normal control stand and visibilty helps.
Mike WSOR engineer | HO scale since 1988 | Visit our club www.WCGandyDancers.com
The harsh reality is that all good things must come to an end. For my money the SD40's were the best darn six axle diesel locomotive ever made! Needless to say that on the rare occasions that I do get to run one, I revel in every mile. The rookies just don't understand!
.
BigJim The harsh reality is that all good things must come to an end. For my money the SD40's were the best darn six axle diesel locomotive ever made! Needless to say that on the rare occasions that I do get to run one, I revel in every mile. The rookies just don't understand!
Big Jim,
Be sure you get a picture of you in the cab of one of your SD40's for your avatar, before they're all gone!
WSOR 3801 Sometimes the newer ones don't hold up so good... http://www.fuzzyworld3.com/3um/viewtopic.php?p=22678#p22678 I read somewhere that SD40-2s are still cost-effective if used for 60,000 miles a year or so. They can also be used for switching and local freight, where some of the newer ones are a bit big. A normal control stand and visibilty helps.
WSOR 3801 Sometimes the newer ones don't hold up so good...http://www.fuzzyworld3.com/3um/viewtopic.php?p=22678#p22678I read somewhere that SD40-2s are still cost-effective if used for 60,000 miles a year or so. They can also be used for switching and local freight, where some of the newer ones are a bit big. A normal control stand and visibilty helps.
I think Class 1s will hold on to some SD40-2s for yard service, local freight and RCL. BNSF is doing that with non-leased SD40-2s they own outright. BNSF even recently rebuilt several former-ATSF SD45s into SD40-3s. I think some of the 710ECO locos that KCS will be getting this year are SD40/40-2 rebuilds too.
i just finished reading my copy of the current issue of trains magazine for the month of march 2009 and am saddened by the fact that a really nice diesel locomotive like the sd40-2 are bieng retired let us hope they don't end up scrapped or worse yet end up in the cutting torch let them save this wonderful work horse in a museum for all to enjoy.
All good things must eventually fade into the background. Let's hope that the SD40-2s survive in the manner of the original Geeps, here and there. The operational economics won't keep them "front and center" on the Class Is anymore, but they will have their place in the rail pantheon, one hopes.
Back in '79, I picked up a British rail magazine while on honeymoon in the UK. I recall a letter to the editor from Max Ephraim, then Chief Engineer of EMD, commenting on the extreme reliability of the -2 series locomotives, as opposed to the opposite of the British diesels, and what EMD had done in design and manufacture to assure that. Would Max have then expected so many of his "children" to be soldiering on in so many places today, 30 years later? Max and the EMD staff certainly got it "right" with this model, just like their predecessors did with the original Geeps.
It's just "the circle of life" applied to railroading. In the early seventies, two SD-40-2s could pull a train it would take three or four first generation GPs or Fs to pull...plus maintenance on the 20 year old first generation units would be increasing as they aged. Now it's come full circle, SD-40-2s are the old low-powered relics being replaced by bigger more powerful mainline engines.
UP and BNSF should be the first to get rid of them, Im sure KCS would be third at this rate. But, I havent seen many NS or CSXT SD40-2's getting retired? I know the CSX has repainted three SD40-2's this January, well into the current recession. Remember, the CSX had lease units for many years, and the GEVO's started to rid those, but there just getting back to normal. There are still other engines that will go on the CSX before the main group of SD40-2's, the B30-7's and B36-7's, and maybe even a few of the C40-8's.
Alec
while not many have been retired yet,CSX has a retired a number of SD40-2's with the most recent retirements including a couple of the 8300 series units rebuilt from SD40's, the first of their kind to be retired for non wreck related damage by CSX. It just depends on what type of problems a unit is having as to whether its retired or not. In many cases all a unit needed was an engine change but rather than do this was stripped and sent to the deadline. This includes units which had already been equiped with RC controls and others which have been repainted. CSX may be repainting them, but unless it is overhauled at the time of painting there is nothing to say that it won't be retired should mechanical problems crop up.
At this time NS is the only Class I railroad which has not initiated a wholesale retirement for its SD40-2 fleet.
Bryan Jones
Bryan, you wouldnt happen to have any numbers, would you?
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