#4208
EMD SD40T-2
🇺🇸 United States ·built by Electro-Motive Diesel· from 1974· model of North American 3000hp Co′Co′ diesel-electric locomotives
2 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. SP 8238 CA Caliente: Slambo at en.wikipedia· CC BY-SA 2.0
- 2. SD40T-2 9461 ALL: Milton Ribeiro· CC BY-SA 3.0
what is it?
The SD40T-2 is a model of diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division in the United States. The SD40T-2 is equipped with a 16-cylinder EMD 645E3 diesel engine producing 3,000 horsepower (2,240 kW). 312 SD40T-2s were built for three railroads in the United States between April 1974 and July 1980.
who runs it
base stats
Bars compare against all trains: 600 km/h (maglev), 1,700 seats; power, weight and number built on a log scale up to 20 MW, 1,000 t and 20,000 built.
fun facts
- First built 52 years ago, in 1974.
- 2.2 MW is about 26 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- Weighs about as much as 28 African elephants (~6 t each).
- 21.3 m long: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1974–1980
- status
- in service
- number built
- 312
- kind
- Diesel-electric
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- Electro-Motive Diesel
- operators
- Southern Pacific Transportation Company, St. Louis Southwestern Railway, Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad, Union Pacific Railroad
- top speed
- 105 km/h
- power
- 2.2 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- C-C
- length
- 21.3 m
- weight
- 167 t
- nicknames
- "tunnel motors"
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q6131294, Wikipedia: EMD SD40T-2 (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.