Railfanning in Vancouver & Skamania on April 26, 1998

On April 26, 1998, my dad and I went railfanning with his friend Fred Anderson. We started out at the Amtrak depot in Vancouver, Washington. We soon saw some interesting light motive power pass through.

LRCX SF30C #9529 was originally a 3,600-horsepower U36C that was built by General Electric in June 1972 as Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #8702. In February 1986 it was rebuilt by the Santa Fe's shops in Cleburne, Texas as a 3,000-horsepower SF30C and renumbered to #9529. It was sold to Livingston Rebuild Center Inc. on August 6, 1997, becoming LRCX #9529.

On the other leg of the wye came a northbound Union Pacific freight train. Union Pacific #9730 is a 4,380-horsepower Dash 9-44CW that was built by General Electric in August 1994.

Another light power move soon followed. Burlington Northern GP39E #2902 was originally built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in April 1965 as Great Northern GP35 #3039. It was originally powered by a 2,500-horsepower turbocharged 567 engine. After the Great Northern was merged into Burlington Northern on March 2, 1970, it became Burlington Northern #2522. In June 1990 it was rebuilt by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors as 2,300-horsepower GP39E Burlington Northern #2902.

Burlington Northern #2279 is a 2,000-horsepower GP38-2 that was originally built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in July 1973 as St. Louis-San Francisco (SLSF, also known as the Frisco) #424. The Frisco was merged into the Burlington Northern in 1980, and this locomotive was renumbered as Burlington Northern #2279. It still has a notch in its nose where the Frisco's oscillating warning light was mounted.

We left Vancouver and went down the Washington side of the Columbia River Gorge to Skamania, Washington. Leading a westbound freight train, Montana Rail Link #325 was originally a 3,600-horsepower SD45 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in December 1968 as St. Louis Southwestern (SSW, also known as the Cotton Belt) #9064. The Cotton Belt was a Subsidiary of the Southern Pacific, and on September 23, 1985, this locomotive was upgraded at Southern Pacific's Sacramento Shops to an SD45R and became Southern Pacific #7554. Following the merger of the Southern Pacific into the Union Pacific, in January 1997 this locomotive was sold via Coast Engine & Equipment Company of Tacoma, Washington, to Montana Rail Link, where it was classified as an SD45-2 and became #325.

The second locomotive in this consist was Burlington Northern Santa Fe #1004, a 4,400-horsepower Dash 9-44CW that was built by General Electric in October 1996.

The last unit was EMDX #6043, a 3,000-horsepower SD40-2 that was originally built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in December 1973 as Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific #4793 under a lease agreement. The Rock Island shut down on March 31, 1980, and in June 1980, the locomotive's lease was by the Illinois Central Gulf, and it become ICG #6043. Following the end of the lease period, it was returned to EMD, equipped with dynamic brakes (which it never had before) and added to the Electro-Motive Leasing fleet, becoming EMDX #6043 in January 1989.

Next came an eastbound freight train led by LMX #8547, a 3,900-horsepower B39-8E that was built by General Electric in October 1987. This is one of a group of 100 identical locomotives that were built for lease to Burlington Northern under a "power by the hour" arrangement, in which Burlington Northern payed only for the kilowatt-hours the locomotives produce, plus a base monthly charge. Under the agreement, General Electric handled the maintenance of the locomotives in Lincoln, Nebraska, using Burlington Northern union personnel under GE supervision. This train consisted of empty intermodal well cars, some of which had just come from Gunderson in Portland, Oregon, and were so fresh from the factory that we could smell the paint as they passed by.

We returned to Vancouver, where we saw Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe #136, a 3,800-horsepower GP60M that was built by the General Motors Locomotive Group in London, Ontario, in July 1990. Santa Fe's "Super Fleet" locomotives were still rare in the Pacific Northwest, and the GP60Ms were especially rare.

A southbound intermodal train arrived, led by Union Pacific #9222, a 4,000-horsepower Dash 8-40C that was built by General Electric in September 1988.

The second unit of this train was Denver & Rio Grande Western #5358, a 3,000-horsepower SD40T-2 that was built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors in July 1975.

This train came to a stop in front of the Vancouver depot, allowing for more opportunities for photographs. Rio Grande tunnel motors still weren't very common in the Pacific Northwest.

Union Pacific #9222 still looked pretty sharp considering it was just a few months from its 10th birthday.

A northbound freight train arrived, led by Union Pacific #8104, a 4,300-horsepower SD9043AC that was built by the General Motors Locomotive Group in London, Ontario, in March 1997.

The second unit was Union Pacific #8103, another 4,300-horsepower SD9043AC that was built by the General Motors Locomotive Group in London, Ontario, in March 1997.

This train also came to a stop in front of the Vancouver depot. These were the first SD90s I had seen, so I took the opportunity to take several photographs of these sequentially numbered twins, despite the fading daylight.

The SD90MAC was intended to be powered by a 6,000-horsepower 16-cylinder 265H four-stroke diesel engine, but there were problems in this new engine's development. Union Pacific purchased SD90MACs with the proven 4,300-horsepower 16-cylinder 710G3C two-stroke diesel engine, intending to replace the 710G3C engines with the 265H when the new engines were ready.

Union Pacific designated these locomotives SD9043AC, while the EMD designation was simply SD90MAC. The SD90s that were built with the 265H engine were called SD90MAC-H by EMD, but Union Pacific designated them SD90AC. Ultimately, the 265H engine would be deemed a failure, and the SD9043ACs would keep their 710G3C engines and remain in service longer then their more powerful 265H-powered sisters.

Locomotive Rosters

I originally posted these rosters on my old website as Excel spreadsheets on June 22, 2008. I have since updated them.

This page features links to locomotive rosters I have compiled. These are not railroad locomotive rosters; instead, they are rosters of a specific locomotive model. In some cases, I have limited the roster to a single railroad's roster of a particular model, such as Amtrak's F40PHs or the LMX Leasing B39-8Es. I have included all the subsequent owners and disposition information I have been able to find. I made these for my own use, but considering the effort I felt they should be shared. I can't guarantee that this information is 100% accurate and up to date, but it was as reasonably accurate and complete as I could get it.

EMD GP30 Roster

This is a roster of all EMD’s distinctive GP30s produced by EMD, including the two Canadian units, in order by original owner and including all known subsequent owners and final dispositions where applicable. I have not included the GP30B's built for Union Pacific, because their roster information wasn't very interesting. This roster is based on information from the Burlington Northern 1974-75 Annual by Motive Power Services, the Burlington Northern 1980-1991 Annual by Robert C. Del Grosso, Southern Pacific Diesel Locomotive Compendium - Volume 2 by Joseph A. Strapac, the GP30 rosters at Diesel Locomotive Rosters and The Unofficial EMD Homepage and a post about GP30 Ownership at the Trains.com forums. Additional information came from The Diesel Shop and RR Picture Archives.net. Information about specific railroads came from ATSF Diesel Rosters, Burlington Northern Railroad Photo Archives, CSX Photo Archives, The Great Northern Empire Then & Now, Milwaukee Road Online, The Unofficial Soo Line Diesel Roster, Don Strack's Utah Rails and Class III Shortlines.

EMD SDP40 & SDP45 Rosters & Paint Schemes

This is a roster of all SDP40s and SDP45s produced by EMD. Because these two models were produced in such small quantities, I am also able to include information on the paint schemes each individual locomotive is known to have worn. Major sources include the Burlington Northern 1980-1991 Annual by Robert C. Del Grosso, Southern Pacific Diesel Locomotive Compendium - Volume 2 by Joseph A. Strapac, the Unofficial EMD Homepage, the Great Northern Empire Then & Now, the Burlington Northern Railroad Photo Archive, the Conrail Cyclopedia, Don Strack's Utah Rails, rrpicturearchives.net, Erie Lackawanna Railroad Survivors, Erie Lackawanna EMD SDP45 Info Request at the Atlas Forum and various other railroad photo sites.

The SDP40 was a passenger version of the SD40 freight locomotive, equipped with a steam generator and water tanks for heating passenger cars. Only 20 were built: 6 for the Great Northern Railway and 14 for the National Railroad of Mexico. Several of the SDP40s are still in service as freight units today, and one, BNSF #6327 (ex GN #325), has been preserved at the Minnesota Transportation Museum. Some of the FNM SDP40s were renumbered into a 5 digit 13000-series at some point. They may have been rebuilt. At least four carried these numbers; there may have been more. I don't know which they were originally. Three were transferred to Ferromex.

The SDP45 was a passenger version of the SD45 freight locomotive. Unlike the SDP40, which was built on the same length frame as the SD40 it was derived from, the SDP45's frame was several feet longer than that of the SD45, resulting in additional space between the trucks for fuel and/or water tanks. SDP45s for passenger service were built for the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Great Northern Railway. All are now out of service. The Erie Lackawanna also purchased SDP45s, however they purchased them for freight-only service. The Erie Lackawanna wanted the extra-long frame of the SDP45 as it could potentially carry larger fuel tanks than the standard SD45s. As they were intended for freight-only service, the Erie Lackawanna units were not equipped with steam generators or water tanks. The entire space between the trucks was allocated for fuel and the end of the long hood was tapered like a regular freight unit instead of squared off like the other SDP40s and SDP45s. The SDP45s became part of Conrail with the rest of the Erie Lackawanna. Erie Lackawanna's first group of SDP45s were ordered when the railroad was under the control of the Norfolk & Western. They were returned to the N&W's successor Norfolk Southern in 1984. Most were scrapped. One unit had been retired after a wreck, and the remains had been rebuilt into a slug by N&W. Unlike the first order, Erie Lackawanna's second order of SDP45s came through a lessor. After their 15 lease expired, they were returned to the lessor in 1984. Most of them went on to find second careers in lease service, or were rebuilt by Morrison Knudson as SD40M-2s for Southern Pacific (years after all SP's original SDP45s were retired and scrapped) and were later transferred to Union Pacific.

EMD Cowl Unit Roster

This roster lists all of the six-axle cowl units built by EMD, including the FP45s, F45s, SDP40Fs and F40Cs, including their subsequent owners and final disposition, where known and applicable. This roster is based on information from the Burlington Northern 1980-1991 Annual by Robert C. Del Grosso, the Unofficial EMD Homepage. Additional information came from RR Picture Archives.net, Santa Fe Cowl Units, ATSF Diesel Rosters, Milwaukee Road Online, The Great Northern Empire Then & Now, Burlington Northern Railroad Photo Archives, Don Strack's Utah Rails, Amtrak Photo Archives, & Metra Locomotive Roster.

Amtrak F40PH Roster

This roster lists all of the EMD F40PH locomotives owned by Amtrak, including their subsequent owners and final disposition, where known and applicable. This roster is based on information from the Unofficial EMD Homepage, On Track On Line and Go By Train. Additional information came from RR Picture Archives.net.

EMD Tunnel Motor Roster

This is a roster of all the SD40T-2 and SD45T-2 Tunnel Motors built by EMD. It includes a complete guide to each locomotive's numbers in the various Union Pacific number series these locomotives were placed in at various points; even if the locomotive never actually wore a number in a particular series, I have managed to figure out what it would have been.

This roster lists all of the SD40T-2 and SD45T-2 locomotives built by the Electro-Motive Division of General Motors, including their subsequent owners where known and applicable. Roadnumbers in red were never worn by the locomotive, due to the locomotive being retired or the numbering system being changed before the locomotive was renumbered. This roster is based on information from Southern Pacific Diesel Locomotive Compendium - Volume 2 by Joseph A. Strapac and Don Strack's Utah Rails, with additional information from RR Picture Archives.net, The Unofficial EMD Homepage and DRGW.net.

LMX Leasing GE B39-8E Roster

This roster lists all of the General Electric B39-8E locomotives built for lease to Burlington Northern through LMX Leasing, including their subsequent owners and final disposition, where known and applicable. This roster is based on information from the Burlington Northern Railroad Photo Archives, with additional information from RR Picture Archives.net, Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Locomotive Rosters from Railroads of Northern New England and Class III Shortlines.