EMD SDP40F

The EMD SDP40F was a 6-axle Diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division from 1973 for Amtrak service. Power was provided by an EMD 645E3 16-cylinder turbocharge Diesel engine, which generated 3000 tractive horsepower (2240 kW).

Origins

The SDP40F was the first locomotive type purchased new by Amtrak. After startup, Amtrak's motive power fleet consisted primarily of EMD E-units and F-units acquired from predecessor railroads. Most of these veteran locomotives had been in operation for many years without good maintenance, resulting in numerous breakdowns. New locomotives were needed quickly, and the SDP40F was intended as an interim solution to Amtrak's long-term motive power requirements.

Based on EMD's ubiquitous SD40-2 freight locomotive, a total of 150 SDP40Fs were placed into service over a two year period. Aside from a passenger style carbody instead of the narrow long hood of the antecedent freight unit, the principal distinguishing mechanical features of the SDP40F were passenger gearing, permitting a maximum speed of and the installation of two Vapor steam generators, along with a feedwater tank, at the rear of the engine room. (Another tank below the frame carried 2150 more gallons of water.) Steam generation was required to support the climate control and potable water heating systems of the passenger fleet that Amtrak was operating at the time.

Eventually the SDP40F was phased out as all-electric cars, such as the......
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