The SD45 is a six-axle

diesel-electric locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving wheels ...

built by

General Motors Electro-Motive Division Progress Rail Locomotives, doing business as Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its su ...

between 1965 and 1971. It has an

EMD 645E3 The EMD 645 is a family of diesel engines that was designed and manufactured by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors. While the 645 series was intended primarily for locomotive, marine and stationary engine use, one 16-cylinder versi ...

twenty-

cylinder A cylinder (from ) has traditionally been a three-dimensional solid, one of the most basic of curvilinear geometric shapes. In elementary geometry, it is considered a prism with a circle as its base. A cylinder may also be defined as an ...

engine generating on the same frame as the SD38, SD39,

SD40 SD40 may refer to: * Canon PowerShot SD40, a digital camera * EMD SD40 The EMD SD40 is an American 6-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between January 1966 and August 1972. 1,268 locomotives were buil ...

, and SDP40. As of 2022, most SD45s have been retired, scrapped or rebuilt to

SD40-2 The EMD SD40-2 is a C-C diesel-electric locomotive built by EMD from 1972 to 1989. The SD40-2 was introduced in January 1972 as part of EMD's '' Dash 2'' series, competing against the GE U30C and the ALCO Century 630. Although higher-horsepowe ...

standards.

Design

1,260 were built for

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

railroads before the SD45-2 replaced it in 1972, along with the related SD45T-2 'Tunnel Motor'. SD45s had several teething problems. Reliability was not as high as anticipated; the twenty-cylinder prime mover was prone to

crankshaft A crankshaft is a mechanical component used in a piston engine to convert the reciprocating motion into rotational motion. The crankshaft is a rotating shaft containing one or more crankpins, that are driven by the pistons via the connecti ...

failure from engine block flex. Though it produced more than the 16-645E3 in the

, some railroads felt the extra horsepower wasn't worth it, even after EMD strengthened the block to eliminate crankshaft failures. At low speeds, when tractive effort was adhesion-limited, the SD45 provided no advantage over the SD40. Buyers included the

Burlington Northern The Burlington Northern Railroad was a United States-based railroad company formed from a merger of four major U.S. railroads. Burlington Northern operated between 1970 and 1996. Its historical lineage begins in the earliest days of railroadin ...

, Southern Pacific, Santa Fe,

Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...

, the Great Northern Railway,

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pac ...

and the

Northern Pacific Railway The Northern Pacific Railway was a transcontinental railroad that operated across the northern tier of the western United States, from Minnesota to the Pacific Northwest. It was approved by Congress in 1864 and given nearly of land grants, wh ...

. Many SD45s still exist, some rebuilt with sixteen-cylinder 645s for lease companies. SD45s and SD45-2s owned by

Montana Rail Link Montana Rail Link is a privately held Class II railroad in the United States. It operates on trackage originally built by the Northern Pacific Railway and leased from its successor BNSF. MRL is a unit of The Washington Companies and is hea ...

retain their 20-cylinder prime movers. Wisconsin Central used to roster a large fleet of SD45s, but its sale to CN has resulted in the retirement of the entire fleet, with mass scrappings. Montana Rail Link is also starting to sell some for scrap.

Original owners

Preservation

Great Northern 400 Great Northern 400, nicknamed Hustle Muscle, is a restored SD45 diesel locomotive originally owned by the Great Northern (GN). It was built in 1966 as the first production SD45 by Electro-Motive Division. History GN 400 was the first of eight ...

, named "Hustle Muscle", was the first production SD45. It is preserved by the Great Northern Railway Historical Society, based out of

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

. It was in active service on the

Minnesota Transportation Museum The Minnesota Transportation Museum (MTM, reporting mark MNTX) is a transportation museum in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. MTM operates several heritage transportation sites in Minnesota and one in Wisconsin. The museum is actively involv ...

Osceola and St. Croix Valley Railway The Osceola and St. Croix Valley Railway is a heritage railroad in Osceola, Wisconsin owned and operated by the Minnesota Transportation Museum. It operates on former Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad ("Soo Line") trackage no ...

until it suffered a crankshaft failure in its original 20-645E3 engine, requiring a replacement engine to be installed. BNSF Railway overhauled a 20-645E3 engine from a retired ex-ATSF SD45-2 and donated and installed the new engine in January 2019. *

Erie Lackawanna The Erie Lackawanna Railway , known as the Erie Lackawanna Railroad until 1968, was formed from the 1960 merger of the Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad. The official motto of the line was "The Friendly Service Route" ...

3607 is preserved at the St. Louis

National Museum of Transportation The National Museum of Transportation (NMOT) is a private, 42-acre transportation museum in the Kirkwood suburb of St. Louis, Missouri. Founded in 1944, it restores, preserves, and displays a wide variety of vehicles spanning 15 decades of Amer ...

. Restored to EL colors, this unit is a static display. * Norfolk and Western 1776, a high-hood unit, is a static display at the

Virginia Museum of Transportation The Virginia Museum of Transportation is a museum devoted to the topic of transportation located in Downtown Roanoke, Virginia, US. children under two years do not to buy tickets and students can get a discounted $10.5 ticket. History The Virg ...

. * Northern Pacific 3617 is preserved at the

Lake Superior Railroad Museum The Lake Superior Railroad Museum is a railroad museum in Duluth, Minnesota, United States. Opened in 1973, the museum focuses on railroading in the Lake Superior region. It is housed in the restored Duluth Union Depot complex. The museum al ...

. It has been restored to active service. NP_3617_in_2015

Seaboard Coast Line The Seaboard Coast Line Railroad was a Class I railroad company operating in the Southeastern United States beginning in 1967. Its passenger operations were taken over by Amtrak in 1971. Eventually, the railroad was merged with its affiliate lin ...

2024 is preserved at the

Southern Appalachia Railway Museum Southern Appalachia Railway Museum is a railway museum headquartered in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States. History The museum collects antique locomotives and rolling stock to run on their 7 miles of track from the K-25 facility in Oak Ridge, T ...

and is currently painted in the Clinchfield Railroad scheme as of December 2017. * Southern Pacific 7457 is a static display at the

Utah State Railroad Museum Union Station, also known as Ogden Union Station, is a train station in Ogden, Utah, at the west end of Historic 25th Street, just south of the Ogden Intermodal Transit Center. Formerly the junction of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific R ...

. * Wisconsin Central 7525 is at the

Illinois Railway Museum The Illinois Railway Museum (IRM, reporting mark IRMX) is the largest railroad museum in the United States. It is located in the Chicago metropolitan area at 7000 Olson Road in Union, Illinois, northwest of downtown Chicago. Overview His ...

and is operable. It is one of two WC SD45 units to be painted in an Operation Lifesaver scheme. * Kansas City Southern 1200 is at the Rail Museum of Heroica Matamoros in Matamoros, Mexico on static display

References

Sources

* * Pinkepank, Jerry. ''Diesel Spotters Guide 2.'' * * ''Diesel Spotter's Guide, Volume 2.'' Kalmbach, 1994. * White, Dr. W. J. ''How Diesel Electric Locomotives Operate.'' Peat. 1998.

External links

EMD SD45 Original Owners
{{Authority control

SD45 The SD45 is a six-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division between 1965 and 1971. It has an EMD 645E3 twenty- cylinder engine generating on the same frame as the SD38, SD39, SD40, and SDP40. As of 2022, ...

C-C locomotives Diesel-electric locomotives of the United States Railway locomotives introduced in 1965 Freight locomotives Standard gauge locomotives of the United States