The End of the
SD40T-2
Southern Pacific · Rio Grande
The EMD SD40T-2 “Tunnel Motor” was built for the mountains. Low air intakes kept the engine cool inside the long tunnels and snowsheds of the Southern Pacific and Rio Grande.
For decades these locomotives hauled freights over the Sierra, the Cascades, Moffat Tunnel, and Tennessee Pass. After the Union Pacific mergers they continued working the same territory, still carrying the scars of mountain service.
By the 2010s and 2020s most of the fleet had been retired, stored, and scrapped. A few survive in preservation or secondary service. The rest are gone.
TunnelMotor.net remembers the machines that were built for the tunnels and spent their lives conquering the grades.