EMD FP45

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EMD FP45
Santa Fe #108 at the Southern California Railway Museum
Type and origin Power type Diesel-electric Builder General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) Model FP45 Build date 1967-1968 Total produced 14
Specifications Configuration: ​  • AAR C-C Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Wheelbase 45 ft 0 in (13.72 m) Length 72 ft 4 in (22.05 m) Prime mover EMD 645E3 Engine type V20 Diesel Cylinders 20
Performance figures Power output 3,600 hp (2,680 kW)
Career Operators Santa Fe, Milwaukee Road, and BNSF Locale western United States Disposition several preserved in museums, two were wrecked and one sold to Wisconsin Central

The EMD FP45 is a cowl unit type of C-C diesel locomotive produced in the United States by General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD). It was produced beginning in 1967 at the request of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which did not want its prestigious Super Chief/El Capitan and other passenger trains pulled by freight style hood unit locomotives, which have external walkways.

History and development[]

The EMD SDP45 was a good passenger locomotive, but to the Santa Fe Railway it did not look the part. EMD therefore designed a lightweight "cowl" body to cover the locomotive, though it did not, as in earlier cab units, provide any structural strength, which remained in the frame. The cowl provided sleeker looks, better aerodynamics at speed, and allowed the crew to enter the engine compartment en route for diagnostics and maintenance. Final drive gear ratio for passenger service was 57:20.^[1]

Orders[]

Santa Fe purchased nine of the locomotives (road numbers 100 through 108), and the Milwaukee Road bought five for its passenger service (road numbers 1 through 5). The Milwaukee Road units were delivered without Dynamic Braking. Reportedly, Illinois Central Railroad was considering an order for five FP45s as well (EMD order #5742, serial #s 34952-34956), but canceled it. Such low production was feasible and profitable for EMD since the locomotive was fundamentally just a re-clothed SDP45. Power, as in the SDP45, was from a V20 645E3 engine (or prime mover) developing 3,600 hp (2,680 kW).

Liveries[]

The locomotives were delivered painted in the Santa Fe's famous Warbonnet colors, in exactly the same style as the railroad's F units and GE U30CG.

When Amtrak took over passenger service, the FP45s were reassigned to fast freight service, particularly Santa Fe's Super C high-speed intermodal run. Seven units were repainted from their original red and silver Warbonnet scheme to the standard blue and yellow freight scheme, while two units were painted into the blue and yellow warbonnet. Their steam generators were removed. Gearing was changed from 57:20 passenger gearing to 59:18 for freight service and they were permanently assigned to the freight pool. All Santa Fe FP45s except for #5995 were repainted in the Southern Pacific Santa Fe (SPSF) merger paint and then repainted in the blue and yellow warbonnet scheme after the merger denial.

In June 1989, two of the units, #5992 and #5998, were repainted once more in a modified version of the Warbonnet scheme (this time, displaying Santa Fe in large, red letters "billboard"-style across the side, a livery previously worn by the GE U28CG) and re-designated as #101 and #102. The units reentered service on July 4 as part of the new "Super Fleet" — the first Santa Fe units to be so decorated for freight service. The six remaining units were thereafter similarly repainted and renumbered to 100-107.

In 1990 with the purchase of the EMD GP60Ms the units were renumbered back in to the 5990s and were then renumbered again to 90-93 and 95-98 and remained in the Warbonnet scheme until their retirement in the late 1990s, after some 30 years of service. The units purchased by the Milwaukee Road were painted to the Milwaukee's orange and black scheme after Amtrak took over passenger service.

Derivatives[]

Control stand of ATSF 108

A freight-only derivative, the EMD F45, was sold in greater numbers (86) to Santa Fe, the Great Northern Railway, and the Burlington Northern Railroad. Amtrak bought a similar passenger locomotive based on the 3,000 hp (2,240 kW) SD40-2, the SDP40F.

The last three F45's in service were on the Montana Rail Link and the New York, Susquehanna and Western Railway in the northern and northeastern United States. These units were taken out of service in 2006 for the MRL and 2010 for the NYSW.

Rebuilds[]

Between April 1980 and December 1982, Santa Fe's San Bernardino shops rebuilt eight FP45s 5940-5943, 5945-5948. They emerged as 5990-5993, 5995-5998, and were redesignated SDFP45s. The 5944 was wreck retired in September 1981 on account of a wreck at Toland, Texas. Electrically they were upgraded to SD45-2 standards. Mechanically, they were re-geared from 59:18 to 60:17, reducing their top speed from 89 to 83 mph (143 to 134 km/h).

In the mid 1980s Santa Fe again re-geared them - this time to 62:15 for 71 mph (114 km/h).

Withdrawal[]

Milwaukee Road's FP45s were all sold for scrap in 1981 and 1984. One of Santa Fe's SDFP45 No. 96 was wrecked in 1994 on Cajon Pass. While No. 91 was sold to the Wisconsin Central in January 1995, becoming their #6652 and the rest stayed in service right up until the BNSF merger in 1996, and were retired shortly after the merger.

Preservation[]

Those that were not wrecked in service, or sold to other railroads, are on display in museums:

• Santa Fe 90: was donated to the Oklahoma Railway Museum in Oklahoma City in a non-operational state. #90 was the last FP45 donated by the Santa Fe and had resided on a RIP track for two years before being delivered to the museum.
• Santa Fe 92: was donated to the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois. In 2010, volunteers restored 92's control stand so that it could control other locomotives via MU. The locomotive was moved to National Railway Equipment in Silvis, IL during July 2017, where a replacement 20-645E3 engine, AR10 alternator, and a WBO air compressor (all purchased by the museum) were installed. This made the locomotive fully operational for the first time since at least 1997.
• Santa Fe 93: preserved at the Great Plains Transportation Museum in Wichita, Kansas.
• Santa Fe 95: preserved at the Western America Railroad Museum in Barstow, California.
• Santa Fe 97: preserved at the Museum of the American Railroad in Frisco, Texas.
• Santa Fe 108: was donated in operating condition minus the cab's air conditioner to the Southern California Railway Museum at Perris, California. This locomotive has the distinction of being the last passenger locomotive ever purchased by Santa Fe. Its restoration was completed in October, 2018 and it is now in operating condition for the first time since 2012.[1]

See also[]

• EMD SDP40F

References[]

• Moran, Miles (1975). "And Passenger Service Too". Railroad Modeler. 5 (8): 40–47.
• Duke, Donald (1997). Santa Fe: The Railroad Gateway to the American West, Volume Two. San Marino, CA: Golden West Books. ISBN 0-87095-110-6.
• Graham-White, Sean (2002). Electro-Motive Division's Classic Cowl Units - A Color Pictorial. La Mirada, CA: Four Ways West. ISBN 1-885614-53-5.
• "5700 Order Numbers". The UNofficial EMD Homepage. Retrieved 2009-06-21.

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to EMD FP45 locomotives.

• Additional photos, specifications and information on the surviving FP45 locomotives-by Jim Fuhrman
• Santa Fe 92 at IRM as preserved at IRM
• Preservation project for Santa Fe FP-45 93 At the Great Plains Transportation Museum.