Selected article of the week

The EMD SD40-2 is a 3,000-horsepower (2,200 kW) C-C road switcher diesel-electric locomotive. The SD40-2 was introduced in January 1972 as part of EMD's Dash 2 series, competing against the GE U30C and the ALCO Century 630. Although higher-horsepower locomotives were available, including EMD's own SD45-2, the reliability and versatility of the SD40-2 made it one of the best-selling models in EMD's history, edged only by the GP9, and the standard of the industry for several decades after its introduction. The SD40-2 was an improvement over the SD40, with modular electronic control systems similar to those of the experimental DDA40X. Peak production of the SD40-2 was in the mid-1970s. Sales of the SD40-2 began to diminish after 1981 due to the oil crisis, increased competition from GE's Dash-7 series and the introduction of the EMD SD50, which was available concurrently to late SD40-2 production. The last SD40-2 delivered to a United States railroad was built in July 1984, with production continuing for railroads in Canada until 1988, Mexico until February 1986, and Brazil until October 1989. SD40-2s are still quite usable nearly fifty years after the first SD40 was made. Most SD40-2s which remain in service have by now been rebuilt "in-kind", although a few (under 30) have been rebuilt to incorporate a 12-cylinder EFI-equipped 710G engine.

Recently selected: C Eighth Avenue Local - Brooklyn Manor station - Bergen Street station (IND Culver Line)

Selected image of the week

Deutsche Bahn electric locomotive number 185 353 pulls an intermodal train over the Saalach river near Salzburg, Austria, in September 2013.

Recently selected: JR Freight on Nagasaka Curve - Canadian Pacific Railway - Isumi Railway

Did you know...

• ...that the opening ceremonies of the Galway to Clifden railway were very sparsely attended because the event date was a strict church holiday and was reserved for attending church services?
• ...that following heavy damage to the Galveston Island Trolley track and cars from Hurricane Ike in 2008, substitute service with replica buses was operated until service resumed in October 2021?
• ...that although the former Santa Fe Railway's Galesburg station was demolished after regular passenger service to the station ended in 1996, the site is still used if derailments cause trains to use the Chillicothe Subdivision instead of the Mendota Subdivision?
• ...that the Fuzhou–Xiamen railway, which opened in 2010, was so heavily used that it reached capacity in 2015, spurring construction on the parallel Fuzhou–Xiamen high-speed railway for CRH passenger train services?

Selected anniversaries

April 3

• 1826 – Cyrus K. Holliday (pictured), cofounder of Topeka, Kansas, and first president of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad, is born (d. 1900).
• 1848 – The Joseph Valley Railroad, a predecessor of the Lake Shore and Michigan Southern Railway, is chartered in Michigan.
• 2001 – The European Union approves Bombardier's acquisition of Adtranz.
• 2003 – First revenue run of M>Train's new Siemens Mo-Mo train.

Train News

• 👁 Santa Fe No. 2926 at Albuquerque, New Mexico
  

  July 24, 2021 – Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe No. 2926, a 4-8-4 steam locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1944, moves under its own power for the first time since Christmas Eve of 1953, after nearly twenty-two years of being rebuilt by volunteers. The locomotive will be put into mainline excursion service. (NMSL&RHS, Trains Magazine on Facebook)

• 👁 Big Boy No. 4012 at Steamtown National Historic Site
  

  May 5, 2021 – Steamtown National Historic Site completes thorough cosmetic overhaul on Union Pacific 4-8-8-4 Big Boy No. 4012, which is moved back on static display before National Train Day. (NEPA Scene)

• 👁 The derailed Taroko Express trainset, as seen from outside the entrance to the tunnel
  

  April 2, 2021 – 2021 Hualien train derailment – A Taroko Express train operated by the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) derails at the north entrance of Qingshui Tunnel in Heren Section, Xiulin Township, Hualien County, Taiwan, killing 49 people and injuring at least 200 others. North of Hualien City a construction truck had fallen down a slope onto the tracks. The eight-carriage train derailed after colliding with the truck, and then came to a rest in the tunnel, with severe damage and many casualties. (Bloomberg, CNN, CNA, New York Times, Financial Times)

• December 31, 2020 – Following a complete restoration, Chesapeake and Ohio 1309, a 2-6-6-2 Mallet locomotive built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in 1949, the last steam locomotive built by Baldwin for the North American market, is operated under its own power for test runs. When returned to service on the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad, it will be the largest steam locomotive in regular scheduled service in the United States and take 2-8-0 No. 734’s place as the largest active steam locomotive in the state of Maryland. (Trains.com Newswire)

• September 28, 2020 – Amtrak operates a test run using one of the 28 new Avelia Liberty trains manufactured by Alstom along the full length of the Northeast Corridor to Boston South Station. Previous test runs had occurred from Washington, D.C., only as far north as New Jersey and Delaware. Barring any problems, the trains are expected to enter regular service on the route in 2021. (Universal Hub)

• June 13, 2020 – The Bay Area Rapid Transit Silicon Valley BART extension opened its stations in Milpitas and North San Jose. (San Jose Spotlight, SF Gate)

General images

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