HO RTR SD40R with DCC & Sound, SP #7303

HO RTR SD40R with DCC & Sound, SP #7303 Overview

During the 1980's, SP's aging fleet of SD40's were in dire need of rebuilding. They went through SP's “GRIP” program which upgraded the whole locomotive, becoming SD40R's. By the late 1980's, the original SP equipped gyralights became expensive to maintain and were removed to save costs. By 1994, some got repainted into SP's then-new “speed lettered” scheme. Around this same time, SP contracted MK to rebuild numerous SD40 locomotive cores to basically a “new” version, a SD40M-2. MK added new features to these such as alternating front ditch lights, Timken roller bearings, and computerized wheel slip control. They were all used system wide and found in many types of service.

In 1966, EMD updated its locomotive catalog with entirely new models, all powered by the new 645 diesel engine. The SD40 had 3,000 hp from a turbocharged V16. 856 examples of this locomotive model were built for American railroads, 330 were built for Canadian railroads, and 72 were built for Mexican railroads.

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