#4172
EMD SDP40F
🇺🇸 United States ·built by General Motors Diesel· from 1973· class of 150 American diesel locomotives built for Amtrak
2 photos from Wikimedia Commons · credits & licences
- 1. AMTK 536 with 568 Train 14 San Jose 77xRP - Flickr - drewj1946: Drew Jacksich from San Jose, CA, The Republic of California· CC BY 2.0
- 2. AMTK 629 with 5 Emi gap Feb 1978xRP - Flickr - drewj1946: Drew Jacksich from San Jose, CA, The Republic of California· CC BY 2.0
what is it?
The EMD SDP40F is a cowl unit, six-axle, 3,000 hp (2.2 MW) C-C diesel–electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) from 1973 to 1974. Based on Santa Fe's EMD FP45, EMD built 150 for Amtrak, the operator of most intercity passenger trains in the United States. Amtrak, a private company but funded by the United States government, had begun operation in 1971 with a fleet of aging diesel locomotives inherited from various private railroads.
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 53 years ago, in 1973.
- Top speed is 1.2× a car on the Dutch motorway (130 km/h).
- At full speed it would cover Amsterdam–Utrecht (≈ 40 km) in 15 minutes.
- 2.2 MW is about 26 family cars (~85 kW each) flat out.
- 22 m long: about 5 cars parked nose to tail.
- Served for 29 years (1973–2002).
diesel locomotive: A diesel engine on board drives the wheels, usually through a generator (diesel-electric).
spec sheet
- built
- 1973–1974
- in service from
- 1973
- retired
- 2002
- status
- in service
- number built
- 150
- kind
- Diesel–electric
- traction
- diesel
- origin
- 🇺🇸 United States
- builders
- General Motors, Electro-Motive Diesel
- operators
- Amtrak, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, BNSF Railway
- top speed
- 161 km/h
- power
- 2.2 MW
- gauge
- 1,435 mm standard gauge
- wheel arrangement
- Co' Co'
- length
- 22 m
From the Wikipedia infobox and Wikidata. Blank means the sources don't say.
Sources: Wikidata Q5323480, Wikipedia: EMD SDP40F (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-25.