SD9 as yard switcher?

[AntonioFP45]

Hi Mookie,

Relax it's easy!

These are General Motors-EMD Locomotives.
GP stands for General Purpose. All "GPs" or Geeps are 4 axle units.
SD stands for "Special Duty". All SDs are 6 axle units.

The differences are mainly the length of the locomotive and the number of axles.
An SD having 6 axles is of course going to be longer.

GPs because they're smaller usually can accelerate more quickly and consume less fuel. That's why Geeps are great for passenger runs and short local freight runs. But because of their "go anywhere-do anything" ability they can be found hauling hotshot freights along with their big 6 axle brothers. Geeps are also favored on rail districts that have a lot of curves.

As far as power for example:
A GP9 and SD9 were rated at 1,750 horsepower as the diesel engines under the hood were identical. The SD had better traction or "low speed pulling power" because of the extra traction motor in the middle axle.

The famous SD40-2 is simply the GP40-2s big brother with basically the same power plant. Each road orders or tailors locomotives for their needs.

In the 60s, GM-EMD produced the SDP40 and SDP45. The "P" stood for "Passenger". These were SD40s and SD45s equipped with steam boilers so that they could run passenger trains and provide heating and air conditioning.

Here's another ringer for you. GM made attractive "COWL" units in the 1960s. (yes, they're my favorites!) These were simply Streamlined carbodies on the SD series locomotives for railroads that wanted "modern-looking" passenger power. GM slapped carbodies on the 3,600 horsepowered SD45 and SDP 45. What did you get? The F45 and FP-45. There were some other variations of these models. In the 70s EMD produced the famous F40ph locomotive for passenger service. This was a 4 axle unit produced for commuter service. It was just a "modified" GP40-2 with a carbody on it! The "F" designation stands for FULL WIDTH CARBODY. Just check out the Diesel Spotter's Guide at your local hobby shop. Also read up on General Electric, Alco, Baldwin and other locomotive manufacturers. After reading the info a few times you'll see how uncomplicated it really is. Hope this helps! Happy Railroading!

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by dharmon

Mook,

GPs and SDs are both EMDs (GMs)

GP is General Purpose and I believe that SD is Special or Specific Duty if I remember correctly

Dan - I think it is Special ?, but the fog is starting to lift a little. I see both here in the yards and keep wondering what the difference was and the history on them.

Moo

[dharmon]

Mook,

GPs and SDs are both EMDs (GMs)

GP is General Purpose and I believe that SD is Special or Specific Duty if I remember correctly

[Mookie]

QUOTE: Originally posted by mudchicken

BN/BNSF uses them in droves (all have been reballasted)....

At low speed they have excess horsepower to generate electricity to the traction motors. Pull like a sonafa b______ch.

MC

Lady with an attitude here: SD and GP - I know GP stands for General Purpose. I vaguely know about an SD - but, sigh, marbles in head not doing well. Difference? SD is GM - what was GP. Is one older than the other - help me here Chicken - I have a paw in your mud and I'm stuck.

Mook

[AntonioFP45]

Burlington Northern and Southern Pacific used SD9s in yard switching duty. SD9s could "yank" blocks of cars easily because of the extra traction motors. Good, tough, little or no frills units. Trains had a very good article on the SD9 back in the 80s that I remember reading about. E-mail Trains and ask if they have the article archived and willing to send you a copy.

[Anonymous]

You all have good attitudes...

[michaelstevens]

I know that when I lived St.Paul, back in the late 80's, BN had at least 2 pairs of SD 9s (didn't they used to call them "cadillacs") in the Northtown yard.
From what MC says, they are probably still in use.

[Anonymous]

I've visited relatives in Galesburg IL over the past 29 years, and have always taken the opportunity to visit BN(SF) facilities south of town. My vantage point is the Thirlwell Road overpass. For a number of years, BN employed at least two green high-nosed SD-9's for switching the north end of the hump, assembling trains. But the SD's disappeared several years ago.

John Baie

[vsmith]

I posted a few months ago a sighting of a brand new brightly painted BNSF Dash 9 shoving lowly beer cars at the local brewery siding here in L.A. so yes, its not only plausable but common...

[mudchicken]

BN/BNSF uses them in droves (all have been reballasted)....

At low speed they have excess horsepower to generate electricity to the traction motors. Pull like a sonafa b______ch.

MC

[Anonymous]

Now Jamie is a person with a good attitude!

[jchnhtfd]

If they had one on hand, and it ran pretty well... why not? Just because it's an SD rather GP wouldn't make that much difference, and yard switchers were -- and are! -- often selected on the basis of what's handy. I don't know if anyone ever did, but I'll bet you could find a prototype somewhere!

[Anonymous]

In my N-scale Division Yard I am using an Atlas high-nose SD9 done-up in
Escanaba & Lake Superior/ex-Reserve Mining livery (I took a trip to Crivitz, Wis.
about 9 years ago to photo the E&LS, and surprisingly enough I was able to
find an undec. Atlas unit at a hobby shop in Oshkosh, mixed-up a perfect match
for the colors and found near-perfect numeral and lettering decals and it turned-
out fantastic - again, surprisingly enough). I didn't add any additional structural
details as I wanted to quit while I was ahead.

I've found that unit crawls extremely well and has lots of pulling power so I like
using it in my yard to switch long cuts of cars for several years now.

I'm wondering just how plausible it would be for a REAL railroad set in say
the late 1980's-early 1990's to employ that type of locomotive in yard duty?