Diesel of the Day 7/29: EMD SDL39
14Today I feature another unusual diesel made in small quantity for a specific railroad: the EMD SDL39. 10 were built for the Milwaukee Road between 1969 and 1972, to replace aging Alco units from the early 40s. Milwaukee Road had very light axle loading (weight limits) on much of their trackage, so they requested a lightweight diesel that spread its weight evenly on the rail. EMD’s answer was the unique SDL39, essentially an SD39 built on a shorter GP38 frame. This is another diesel I consider ‘cute’, with its super-small fuel tank just barely squeezing between the 2 three-axle trucks on a frame meant for four axles total. The SDL39 is powered by a 12-645E3 turbocharged two-stroke engine producing 2,300 horsepower. One unit was wrecked and scrapped in the early 80s, but the remaining fleet of nine units has changed hands a few times and are now working on the FEPASA railway system way down in Chile! The photo today shows one of these units while still under Milwaukee ownership.
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All those wheels sure do make it look busy!
It’s kind of a diesel centipede.
@mehcuda67 Hmmm, I havent featured the Centipede yet!
I want to pick up a piece or two of rail to use as anvils and work hardspots. My FIL had a couple of pieces but his son took those when they were downsizing a couple of years ago. The days of finding scrap rail ends in the railroad beds are long long gone.
@duodec I saw some videos on Youtube years ago, and felt inspired to do the same. Quickly came to a similar conclusion. I’m on a train right now, and just happened to spot a few pieces in a rail yard. However, acquiring them might be the challenge. 1) We’re going about 70 mph. 2) Amtrak might have something to say about a random incursion onto their property for snagging bits of track! Good luck on finding some!
@duodec @mehcuda67 I nabbed a couple cross sections of rail about an inch wide when my local line was being upgraded for SunRail. I had them sandblasted. They look awesome and make great bookends! They’re a little too large and heavy to make practical paperweights.
Does this one have more tractive force as a side effect of the weight reduction? Chile is mountainous, and it seems like this diesel would do well in the mountains - it has many contact points to handle going up and down grades, and it looks relatively small and nimble to conform with the curves of a track through mountains.
/image Chile railroad mountains
@eonfifty You’re right on the money as far as why FEPASA chose these units for mountainous terrain, however less weight without other changes makes less tractive effort. Railroads frequently add extra ballast (weight) to locomotives, in the form of concrete and steel, to increase pulling power. For instance, the ‘H’ in the GE ES44AH model built for CSX stands for ‘heavy’.