UNION, Ill. — The Illinois Railway Museum has added two former Amtrak diesels — an F40PHR and SDP40F — to its collection.
Dynamic Rail Preservation, or DynaRail, has donated F40PHR No. 231 and SDP40F No. 644. The latter unit went to BNSF where it was known as SDF40-2 No. 6975. No. 231 is one of just two F40PHRs preserved intact, the museum says, while No. is the last remaining SDP40F.
“Having been involved in rail preservation for 25 years, and contemplating the future of the saved Amtrak locomotives, I am thrilled to see they have been accepted at IRM,” DynaRail founder Chris Fussell said in a press release. “After attempting to find a home for them at three publicly run museums, the challenges the locomotives faced only served to prove that IRM, a privately operated organization, is a home that guarantees their preservation, plus the decades of work and donations that have gone into them will not be for naught.”
Jamie Kolanowski, curator of the IRM Diesel Department, said the museum is “extremely grateful to Chris and DynaRail, both for making sure these units were preserved in the first place, and of course for donating them to our organization. These are our first Amtrak passenger locomotives, so as large as our diesel collection is, this was really something we were lacking. We’re thrilled to be able to give these two engines a permanent home.”
The F40 was built by EMD in July 1977. The model was one of the first for Amtrak to be built with head-end power for the passenger operator’s car fleet. No. 231 was retired in October 2011 and purchased by DynaRail the following year. It has been restored to its late-1990s appearance, including Operation Lifesaver emblems.
The SDP40F was built by EMD in August 1974. One of 150 such units, they were retired early after a series of derailments attributed to the locomotive design. Santa Fe purchased the unit in 1984 and replaced its hollow-bolster trucks with standard wheelsets, eliminating the derailment issue. It remained in service retirement in 2002. Shortly before its retirement, it was painted in a blue variant of the Santa Fe warbonnet paint scheme to honor cargo firm Maersk Sealand. Purchased with the help of a DyanRail founder in 2003 and reacquired by the organization in 2013, it is preserved in the Maersk Sealand scheme.
IRM intends to restore both locomotives to operating condition for use on its 5-mile railway, and is soliciting donations to help preserve, house, and restore the two diesels. More information on donating is available here.
A big loss for Nevada Southern but a gain for the Illinois Railroad Museum. Hope these will find a good home.
The SDP40F and F40PH were my favorite locomotives built specifically for Amtrak.
It’s been downhill ever since.
The SDP40F was always my favorite Amtrak Locomotive. They looked good on the trains and were very reliable just like their freight cousins, the SD40-2.
IRM is “black hole” for locomotives and rolling stock in that EVERYTHING seems to gravitate there. That said, two offspring of LaGrange most definitely belong here.
An amazing acquisitions first an SD70MAC and now these two locomotives boy the Illinois railway museum collection just keeps getting bigger and bigger every few years
Former Amtrak SDP40F N° 644 was likely assigned to the original Chicago – Florida ‘Floridian’ via Nashville as the train was powered by newer units which included N° 649 that was always assigned. I rode the ‘Floridian’ with these units to Chicago while attending the University of Iowa.
A very generous and important donation to the right museum…
Dr. Güntürk Üstün