SD45's

Wed May 4 09:16:32 EDT 2005

The short answer is that a number of SD45s were sold to other railroads. The best source of data is Bob Bower's monumental work: "All Time Roster: N&W Diesels", sold thru The Commissary. In the meantime, here is a list of railroads that ran ex-N&W SD45s at one time or another: Wiscinsin Central, Montana Rail Link, Paducah & Louisville, National de Mexico, Springfield Terminal, Wheeling & Lake Erie, and Southern Pacific.  I may have missed one. In addition, several were in various lease fleets for awhile. Some of those assignments were via leases from equipment dealers.

I don't know how many are running today, except that I do know that several are still on the Montana Rail Link, having arrived via Wisconsoin Central: ex-N&W 1701 (MRL 386), 1718 (387), 1724 (388), 1744 (389), 1745 (349) and 1746 (348). At one time or another I have photographed them in recent years on MRL. It is hard to know at any point in time just how many are running, and where they are running. MRL leases some of these units on a short time basis to other roads and some are shut down when business slows. 

A sidelight: this past October at twilight one evening I watched (too dark to photograph) two BNSF SD70MAC road engines, assisted by NINE MRL SD45s, at least one of which was ex-N&W, lift a westbound coal train up the east slope of Mullan Pass at Austin, Montana. There is a big double loop at Austin such that the entire train could be seen stretched out on the hill. All power was in Run 8 and the train was doing maybe 10 MPH. AWESOME sounds from the 45s! Took me back to the 1960s on N&W and Southern....

By the way, see the current issue of Trains for a feature on the SD45 on MRL.

Bill McClure

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