From a former D&RGW SD40T-2 would be my guess.
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Sid, All D&RGW Tunnel Motor repaints were in newer “speed lettering,” so it must be from an original SP unit.
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I doubt it's from a Tunnel Motor, as well. I don't see any of the screen or mesh or whatever it's called at the lower right (rear) section and these were pretty hard to miss on the Tunnels. My guess is a former GP35 or GP40? Or what did they do with those GP-40P-2's from the late 70's/early 80's (IIRC)?
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Good point. Did they have any SDs with exhaust silencers, though. May it’s a composite.
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Gotta be a -2 SD. Exhaust silencer says -2 and two D/B fans says SD. The portion of the long hood to the right doesn't appear to have radiator which would be consistent with a tunnel motor, IMHO. And the mystery deepens.
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It's the front hood section from a Southern Pacific 8230-class SD40T-2 built in 1980. It has the post-1980 mandated exhaust silencer as mentioned in other comments, but it also sports the later extended range bulges in the dynamic brake housing next to the exhaust silencers. The 8230-class were the only units on the pre-Rio Grande merger SP with those bulges. The most likely original 1980 paint with the pre-1991 Roman font lettering tells it was not a D&RGW unit. As for the lack of the see-through "grills" at the rear, the entire radiator section is missing from this hood, but you can see the 2 flat rectangular pieces (front one has the horns on it), those were an SD40T-2 only feature. SD45T-2's also had these panels, but theirs were 1/3 longer (essentially 3 panels) to cover the longer V20's under their hoods.
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Sounds like the definitive answer. I wasn’t aware any SPs had that bulge. Too bad about that IMHO. There really was nothing like the sound of the 645 at run 8 with it’s full-throated roar. I think we’re almost to the point railfans would pay for a charter to photo SD40s (unruffled) pulling a long coal train.
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Sid, you may not be too far off in your statement about the railfans. Luckily, as of now, some railroads can still throw an authentic 1980's SD40-2/SD40T-2 lashup together and run them hard. In particular I mean the Trona Railway. Hopefully that railroad will still be running their incredible lashups for years to come.
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Sid's absolutely right about the 645's, especially in the pre-mandated quiet era! There were plenty on C&O and N&W in 1970's West Virginia, and even though I never saw anything SP until 1991, not much could beat hearing and seeing a string of them "negotiating" Tehachapi Loop!
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My favorite was the 40s coming out of the Clinch River valley between Speers Ferry and Big Cut on SOU Appalachia Division with a coal huge train in the pouring rain. I lived in CA for five years when 40s were everywhere and the Palmdale cutoff was great too. I would say Escalate Western might be a better bet these days.
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