Georgia Road Transportation

FP45M SD45M SD45MB SD40M SD40-2

The 900 series units comprise the original backbone of the Alabama Midland Railroad (AMRR). The series became a catch all for all 3000hp six axle locomotives comprising a handful of true SD40-2s and many 45 series units rebuilt to SD40-2 standards. The AMRR and the later Florida & Gulf Industries (FGI) controlled AMRR made no distinction in the external differences since all units were based on the EMD 645 series primemover and 40 series Dash Two upgrades. These units were purchased for manifest interchange trains and unit grain movements over the “trunk” line between Thomasville, GA, Dothan, AL and Montgomery, AL. A few found work on the heavier rail branches in middle Georgia but were quickly replaced with four axle power once FGI took over the AMRR and combined the two rosters.

The largest contingent of the 900 series was a group of former Chicago Northwestern Railroad (CNW) SD45 units purchased from creditor/lessor GMAC in the 1990s. CNW retired its original SD45 fleet as a group for new SD50 and C40-8 units in the early 1990s. AMRR acquired twenty-four units in varying degrees of operability. Of the twenty-four units purchased, only eighteen ever saw service as the rest of were deemed suitable only as parts sources for the operational units. The 20-cylinder SD45 beasties were notable as part of a group of sixty units built new by EMD for CNW, but specified without dynamic braking, which the granger railroad felt was unnecessary. These bare bones units well suited the spartan nature of AMRR which shied away from the extra maintenance required with such options. After almost five years on their second life service on the AMRR, major breakdowns and fuel costs forced AMRR to consider replacement or rebuilding by 2001. The used locomotive market was tight at the time, and AMRR opted to have the units rebuilt at Stephens Railcar Services into SD40-2 specifications. This included the novel approach of cutting down the as built 20 cylinder 645 block to a 16 cylinder remanufactured version rather than complete primemover replacement as was typical. Stephens Railcar subcontracted Idaho -based Motive Power Industries (MPI) for the primemover conversion and remanufacture, as MPI had introduced and perfected the conversion process. Each unit was sent to Stephens Railcar, had its primemover removed and shipped to MPI. MPI did the conversion and remanufacturing, sending back a 16 cylinder 645M primemover ready to drop into the locomotive. Stephens Railcar completely reworked locomotive carbody, trucks and rotary equipment and replaced the leak prone mechanically bonded radiator for a newer welded unit typical of an SD40-2. The cab and electrical cabinet were also modernized with noise reduction and after-market Woodward Dash-2 electrical cabinets. AMRR chose not to retrofit dynamics braking, and the exterior carbody configuration remained much like it looked when EMD delivered the units to CNW. The new model designation was called an SD45M but was internally an SD40-2. A total of sixteen units were sent through the program, emerging with a model designated SD45M.

One notable occurrence was the addition of two cab-less booster units to the SD45M group. Soon after being released from rebuilding at Stephens Railcar, three SD45M units were involved in a grade crossing collision with a log truck that failed to stop for the train. The log truck lost its brakes and ran into the side of the train between the two trailing units which were coupled nose to nose. The impact destroyed the cab section on both trailing SD45M units and derailed the train. Fortunately, the lead unit was spared the direct impact, and the crew walked away uninjured. The truck driver jumped when he realized he had no brakes and survived with non-life-threatening injuries. The three SD45M units were sent back to Stephens Railcar for wreck repair. The lead unit was repaired in kind, and the two units with destroyed cabs re-emerged as cab-less booster units.