EMD F40C

EMD F40C

Metra F40C #614
Type and origin
Power type Diesel-electric
Builder General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD)
Model EMD F40C
Build date March – May 1974
Total produced 15
Specifications
Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Length 68 ft 10 in (20.98 m)
Width 10 ft 4 in (3.15 m)
Height 15 ft 7.5 in (4.763 m)
Loco weight 364,000 lb (165,000 kg)
Prime mover EMD 645E3B
Engine type V16 diesel
Cylinders 16
Performance figures
Power output 3,200 hp (2,390 kW)
Career
Operators Milwaukee Road, Metra
Locale Chicago, Illinois, and its northwest suburbs
Disposition Twelve sold to Helm Leasing in East St. Louis, Illinois; all presumed scrapped. One (#610) sent to National Railway Equipment Company in Dixmoor, Illinois and scrapped. Two (#611 and #614) are currently stored in the Western Avenue Railyard.

The EMD F40C is a 6-axle 3,200 horsepower (2.4 MW) diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division in 1974 for commuter service in the Chicago. EMD only built 15 locomotives; the growing unpopularity of the 6-axle design for passenger service led to the adoption of the 4-axle EMD F40PH as the standard passenger locomotive in the United States. The MPI MP36PH-3S replaced the F40C in regular service in 2003–2004.

Design

The F40C is derived from the EMD SDP40F; the primary difference between the two is the substitution of a 500-kilowatt (670 hp) HEP generator for the SDP40F's steam generator. It is powered by a 16 cylinder EMD 645E3B, producing 3,200 horsepower (2,390 kW). It uses the same frame as the EMD SD40-2, giving it an overall length of 68 feet 10 inches (20.98 m).[1]

History

In the early 1970s the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad ("Milwaukee Road") operated two commuter rail lines in Chicago: Chicago–Fox Lake and Chicago–Elgin. The operation of these lines was subsidized by local transit agencies. In 1974 two local agencies, the North West Suburban Mass Transit District and the North Suburban Mass Transit District, funded the acquisition of 15 F40Cs for use on the Milwaukee lines. The locomotives passed to Metra on the latter's creation in the 1980s but continued to operate on the ex-Milwaukee lines.[2]

The F40C was withdrawn from regular service with the arrival of new MPI MP36PH-3S locomotives in 2003–2004.[3] Thirteen locomotives were sold to locomotive leasing corporations, although units 611 and 614 were retained and kept on the property in the Western Avenue railyard. In the spring of 2009, units 611 and 614 were placed back into revenue service on both of Metra's ex-Milwaukee Road commuter lines. This was done to cover schedules while the oldest units in Metra's EMD F40PH fleet were being rebuilt. Towards the end of 2016, with many F40PH-2 and F40PHM-2 locomotives being sent out for rebuild, there is an increased likelihood that the 611 and the 614 will be put back into service. Along with a small fleet of HEP-equipped EMD SD70MAC locomotives operating on the Alaska Railroad, the F40Cs are the last six-axle passenger locomotives in daily service in North America.

Metra plans to rebuild F40Cs 611 and 614 to test new prime movers and control packages. The rebuilt locomotives will be classified F40C-T3[4]

Notes

  1. ↑ McDonnell 2002, pp. 142; 144
  2. ↑ McDonnell 2002, p. 145
  3. ↑ Solomon 2012, p. 160
  4. ↑ Blaszak 2015, p. 56

References

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