Today we're taking a look at a model from Broadway Limited Imports that has a couple unusual features based on the prototype - so let's get started.
EMD SD40 History: The SD40 was built by EMD (Electro-Motive Division, of General Motors) and GMD (General Motors Diesel, EMD's Canadian subsidiary) from January 1966 to August 1972 as part of their Special Duty line. 1,268 units would be built in total, for service in North America, South America, and Africa. The first SD40, test bed EMD 434, was actually built on an SD35 chassis, but production units would have their own chassis specs. They were powered by an EMD 16-645E3 V16 diesel, which produced 3,000hp to drive 6 axles. There were several derivatives and versions of the SD40, such as the SDP40 and SDP40F passenger versions, as well as the SD40A, which was custom built for Illinois Central using the longer SDP45 frame to accommodate a larger fuel tank.
The SD40 was preceded by the SD35 in EMD's Special Duty lineup, and were succeeded by the immensely successful SD40-2, which had an upgraded and updated electrical system.
Many rebuilds and updates have been performed to SD40s over the years, resulting in SD40-2, SD40-3, SD40R, SD40M-2, and SD40-2XR monikers appearing.
Several have also been preserved, including the original test bed mentioned above.
SOU 3178 History: Our subject today has an interesting history. Originally built by EMD in April of 1971 as SOU 3178, it was painted in Southern's "Tuxedo" scheme, had a high short hood, and was set up to run long hood forward. The high hood and long hood forward were classic Southern Railway options that would be common on the vast majority of their diesels, and would even carry over, though to a lesser and decreasing extent, into Norfolk Southern after the SOU/NW merger. Speaking of NS, 3178 would also carry over to NS in the merger and become NS 3178. NS would sell 3178 to NRE (National Rail Equipment Company) in the 2000's. In May of 2008, NRE would rebuild 3178 into an NRE 3GS21C Genset locomotive (genset locomotives have multiple small diesels on one frame, and theoretically they activate and deactivate based on power requirements - light engine movements for example would probably only need 1 generator online, whereas a heavy train would have all online). This locomotive would be purchased by the Pacific Harbor Line and become PHL 81. It still resides on the PHL today.
Here's what it looks like today - https://www.railpictures.net/photo/738959/
On with the review!
Box info.
This is officially designated as the front on the Southern Railway - note the bell and horns.
It's my understanding that the long hood forward operation is a carry over from the steam era - crews, and management apparently, thought the short hood didn't provide enough protection in the event of a collision, so they ran LHF, preferring to have as much as possible between the cab and objects they might collide with; similar to having a steam locomotive boiler sticking way out in front of the cab.
I'm not sure why SOU chose the high short hood option - it was common on first generation diesels (GP7/9, SD7/9), but by the time the SD40 came about the regular low hood was the regular setup, and the high hood an option.
SOU was so fond of this setup that they would actually "raise" low hoods on locomotives they acquired second hand, such as the GP38s from the original Norfolk Southern.
A bit of an issue - this grate for the dynamic brake fan was loose in the box. Easily rectified, but not good.
Good: As I'm accustomed to with BLI, this one was overall great. The paint looked good, with the striping and lettering being especially crisp and clear. The details were good and sturdy, and looked nice too. It has a solid weight of 1LB 0.9OZ. It runs extremely well, with no issues whatsoever. The sounds and DCC are also top notch.
Bad: The loose grille previously mentioned, and also the paint, which while well applied was very flat, and gave the model a very plastic and cheap look - I especially found the trucks to be noticeable in this regard. The front handrails also have a bit of a lean. Lastly, an oversight in prototype replication - the crew is backwards. They're facing the rear - which is typically the front on an SD40, but as mentioned, Southern ran them long hood forward. That's an issue you can't really unsee, and why I prefer crew to just be omitted.
Overall: It's a mighty fine model. A few issues, all of which are minor. I would definitely recommend it!
As always, thanks for looking.
That is definitely a nice loooong hood but the crew being backwards oversight is very disappointing