Price: $649.99 (no. 82276) Min Curve: O-54 Cmd Low: 3.6 smph Cnv Low: 5.8 smph High: 73.6 smph Drawbar pull: 2 lb., 5 oz. Features: Two can-style motors, coil couplers, Lionel Legacy command and sound system. Current-production road names: Burlington Northern, Chessie System (B&O), Clinchfield, Conrail, Conrail (Buy Bonds), Grand Trunk Western, Missouri Pacific, Southern Pacific, and Southern Pacific (Daylight).
Launched in 1966, the SD40 was a 3,000-horsepower locomotive powered by a turbocharged V16 645 diesel engine and was a commercial success from the outset. The 11 645-equipped demonstrator units amassed more than a million miles of operation on nine railroads and proved themselves everything EMD’s salesmen said they were.
Though not trouble-free, the SD40-series proved to be a rugged and reliable component of many North American railroads. Some SD40-series locomotives are now approaching 50 years of service.
Lionel salutes this modern freight road warrior with an O gauge product possessing details unique to the railroads operating real SD40s.
Opening the box
It has been said the reason Baldwin failed in the diesel era was that nearly every locomotive it built was virtually a custom built product. EMD, with its heritage of General Motors assembly-line standardization, did offer customers some options, large and small, but options that wouldn’t delay production once it commenced. EMD prospered; Baldwin didn’t. Lionel follows in EMD’s footsteps.
This model does more than change the headlight or the position of the horn on the cab. Lionel’s model focuses on this. In what may be a first, it has released multiple versions with detailing unique to specific road names.
Here are the variable points of detailing options, depending on railroad ownership:
Short hood: brake, ratchet, and lights (SP versions). Grab irons: straight or drop. Battery boxes: Beaded or smooth; mail slot, smooth, or split. Dynamic brakes: standard, extended range, or non-dynamic; Radiator: diamond or rectangular mesh. Pilot: Footboards, snow plow, rock plow. Fuel tank: 4,000 or 3,200 gallon. Fans: Standard or pen top. Trucks: 1 high cylinder, 2 high cylinder, or all low cylinder. Horn: 3-chime cab roof, 5-chime cab roof, or 3-chime behind dynamic brake. Han brake: wheel, rear platform; ratchet, short hood. Electrical cabinet air filter box: yes or no. Bell: left hood, cab roof, or frame. Other: cab signal box, cab vent, or long hood light package.
The SD40 has the classic EMD freight silhouette that has become familiar: Low front nose, angled cab roof, air exhaust behind the cab, and a long line of topside fans. It is a friendly and familiar face at trackside.
Our Lionel Burlington Northern model’s pilot has a snowplow, an add-on uncoupler arm and brake and multiple-unit lines. Front and rear steps have a white safety stripe on their edges, and the decks have safety tread. The forward handrails have a safety chain at the drawbridge, and the green handrails have white accents at the stairways.
The low-nose has add-on grab irons, and there are classification lights in the top of the hood. The cab has crew figures, and the front windows have add-on wiper arms mounted on the frame. The side windows have sunshades. Up top at front, number boards flank the headlight.
The rear pilot has the same basic details as well as a brake wheel in the center of the nose.
For easy roof access, the model features add-on grab irons running up the body on the brakeman’s side. Once topside, there is a curved grab iron for crewmen to hoist themselves up to perform maintenance.
About an inch and quarter behind the cab is the smoke unit. Further back you’ll find the dynamic brake blister and five see-through fan housings. Between the dynamic brake fans and the three radiator fans is an add-on horn. There are also 13 add-on lift rings from the front to the rear.
The detailing on the sides is first rate. The rivet, latch, and hinge detailing is deeply cut into the body, resulting in a nice tactile feel through the tip of your finger. In other words, details you can touch! The internal air filters behind the cab are solid, but have rigid texture. The rear filters are solid, but there is a screen over them.
There is a large fuel tank with red-painted sight gauge and fuel cap. The Flexicoil trucks are works of art, and the detailing of the brake system is very nice.
Four years of living in Grand Forks, N. Dak., made me partial to the Spartan green, black, and white Burlington Northern paint scheme, and Lionel’s craftsmen have done it justice. The simple and dignified livery was expertly applied, and I could find no flaws on our sample.
The more complex white striping on the short hood was terrific, and the many data plates, warning tags, and reflectors are well done. The text is readable.
On the test track
This model had some very impressive start-up sounds. From the first cranking up to working through the speed range (and the power buildup) it is smile evoking. The rest of the sound package is no less than awesome. In addition to locomotive sounds, the model has the usual crew and tower communications to make running more authentic. Horn operation is the most fun you’ll find, and I give the turbocharger sounds two thumbs up.
The SD40’s slow-motion starts (3.6 scale mph in command mode) are terrific – in the watching paint dry category – and a far cry from the 50 scales mile per hour starting jolts that we probably experienced with our trains in 1962! We topped 70-per on the high end with our sample, and I’m certain that if we had a longer straight run, it would have gone higher.
Drawbar pull was 2 pounds, 5 ounces, which should allow this single unit to handle most of your freight-hauling chores.
The fan-driven smoke unit can produce a prodigious amount of vapor, and you can control the output.
Although we ran this locomotive on O-48 curved track, it does require O-54. Try to check it out at your local dealer before purchasing it for a layout with curves tighter than O-54.
The SD40 responded promptly to all commands, whether for functions, sound operation. Speed was only limited by how fast you could twiddle your thumb!
This Lionel Built-to-Order product was as solid a diesel I’ve tested. It looks great, offers unique detailing to please discriminating roadname aficionados, and has command and sound features that more than meet your operational needs. Check the SD40 out at your Lionel retailer before it vanishes!
Excellent Review. Bob’s comment about checking this locomotive for a radius under 054 is excellent. I have this engine and even going through 054 switches it looks odd. In addition the snow plow barely clears Atlas O 054 switches because the plow is so close to the track. I’ve had to screw down Atlas O switches so the SD40 doesn’t snag the top portion of the switch. I model BN so this engine is a “must to have” though most of my main line engines are in lash up. My coal train is all K Line diecast which actually requires a minimum of two engines in lash up and actually, should have three. The SD40 is a perfect lash up engine.