Museum Quality HO Scale EMD SDL39, Fepasa/Original Paint

When EMD introduced its first road switcher models in 1952, there were two models. The first was the four-axle GP7, where GP was short for “General Purpose.” The second model was the six-axle SD7 and SD stood for “Special Duty.” There were two types of Special Duty.

The first and primary Special Duty was handling trains where raw tractive effort was more important than speed. This included working mountain grades, hauling large transfer runs between yards, and heavy loads like iron ore trains. This became the primary usage of the SD series of locomotives for the next twenty years.

The second Special Duty was handling trains on light rail and over bridges with limited capacities. The SD7 could weigh as little as 125 tons, just a bit more than a GP7. Spread over six axles, that gave an axle-loading of 21 tons, much less than the 30 tons typical for GP7s.

Milwaukee Road had a considerable network of branch lines in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa and North and South Dakota. Many of these branches had light rail and light bridges. Milwaukee purchased 24 SD7s and 14 SD9s plus similar six-axle locomotives from ALCo, Baldwin, and Fairbanks-Morse for those branch lines. By the late-1960s, these locomotives were aging and though mileage was reduced, Milwaukee still had branch lines that needed them. Milwaukee turned to EMD for a solution, the SDL39.

The SDL39 was 55 feet 2 inches long, shorter than a GP38 and weighed just 125 tons. Part of the weight reduction was the 12-cylinder turbocharged 645E diesel which produced 2,300 horsepower with four fewer cylinders than the non-turbocharged 645E engine in the GP38. The SDL39 rode on lightened export trucks and had a 1,700-gallon fuel tank.

The first five SDL39s were built on EMD Order Number 7135 as builder numbers 34272 through 34276 and delivered as Milwaukee Road numbers 581 through 585 in April 1969. The second order, Milwaukee Road numbers 586 through 590, was delivered in November 1972 on EMD order 7345 with builder numbers 7345-1 through 7345-5. All ten were Milwaukee Road class 23-ERS-6 (2,300 horsepower, EMD Road Switcher, 6 axle) and came in the standard orange and black paint scheme without Milwaukee Road lettering. Except for number 581 (which was always unique among the SDL39s), all eventually got the Milwaukee Road lettering.

The two orders differed in several ways. Between the two orders, EMD changed the pilot construction as well as the ECAFB. The first five units had four jacking pads on each side, while the second five had just two. The first order was delivered with snow shields over the air intakes, Prime PM-716 electronic bells, and no winterization hatch. The second order did not have the snow shields and were delivered with winterization hatches, Prime PM-733 electronic bells, and Stratolite rotary beacons.

In the 1970s, the first order lost their snow shields and gained winterization hatches and Stratolite beacons. All of the SDL39s came with all-weather windows on the engineer’s side and eventually lost the electronic bells in favor of standard bells mounted on the hood side just behind the cab.

SDL39 number 581 was wrecked in 1982 and scrapped two years later while the other nine units remained in service.

On February 19, 1985, Milwaukee Road merged into the Soo Line. All nine SDL39s became Soo Line units with at least numbers 582 through 585 getting the Soo “Bandit” paint with black patches covering the Milwaukee lettering and white Soo Line and numbers.

In 1986 and 1987, all nine were sold to the new Wisconsin Central. While working for Wisconsin Central, they would receive full WC paint as well as modifications like retention tanks and ditch lights.

When Canadian National took over WC, all nine were again sold, this time to Ferrocarril Del Pacifico, S.A. in Chile.