SD 40

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Don't forget the grills.

There are two styles: "chicken wire" and "corrugated".

All SD40s and the early SD40-2s had the chicken wire ones (a wire mesh), while only SD40-2s had the corrugated ones (closely spaced vertical slats).

Also, the trucks are a good bet. Look for the "horn" at the end toward the fuel tank. The only time those aren't reliable are on former Conrail units, which all had Flexicoils (like SD40s).

There's also the cab overhang too: there's a slight overhang on the cabs toward the long hood: the top plate extends past the wall.

But the dead giveaway is the sight glass on the engineer's side of the long hood at "head height" back by the radiator grills. If there's one present, it's a -2. If not, it's an SD40 (or made by Life-like/Walthers) .

[C855B]

Are the 40 grills that reliable, Ed? Could be. I'm recalling SP's SD45s had three variants, and the last couple production runs of "straight" 45s had corrugated grills. I just wonder if late straight 40s might have echoed the change.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

I think it's pretty reliable, but... then again, all sorts of things happened in railroad's shops. I'd love to see the corrugated SD45s, that'd look crazy!

I mean, the only way to be REALLY sure is to have a peek inside the electrical cabinet: if there are "cards", it's a -2. If there's a rat's nest of wiring, it's a 40.