Norfolk Southern EMD SD40 No. 3170 makes a special appearance at the N.C. Transportation Museum in May 2015.
Chase Gunnoe
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – The Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum’s collection of Southern Railway heritage is growing by one locomotive. Norfolk Southern has donated Southern Railway EMD SD40 No. 3170 to the Chattanooga museum. The locomotive was restored by Norfolk Southern and painted into Southern Railway’s “Tuxedo” paint scheme last year. After more than a year in revenue service, predominantly on the Class I railroad’s southern network, the locomotive will now join the museum’s portfolio of other Southern Railway locomotives.
The museum says that No. 3170 is likely one of only four SD40 locomotives preserved out of approximately 1,268 built. No. 3170 is powered by a 3,000-horsepower EMD 645-series General Motors engine. The locomotive was built for the Southern Railway in April 1971.
The locomotive made a recent appearance at the North Carolina Transportation Museum in Spencer, N.C., for the Southern Railway Historical Association’s annual conference and National Train Day celebration.
The museum plans to host a formal dedication of the locomotive in the future.
Very nice! I never seen a Hi nose SD40, by 1970, 1971 I would think the need for a boiler upfront would be considered Jurassic by then, but I learn something new everyday??
Mr. Reid, you’ll soon have a thousand folks telling you this, but Southern ordered all their engines with the high short hood, and ran them long hood forward. I believe the idea was to improve safety in the event of a collision. I’m sure this matter will soon be clarified to the most minute detail!
Acquiring at least one of Southern Railway’s six Alco PA3’s is a missed opportunity for the Tennessee Valley Railroad Museum (TVRM). These locomotives were the last Alco PA’s built when production ended in 1953.
Now, TVRM will have to live with that regret. They were too preoccupied with collecting only steam locomotives in the early 1960’s, that the PA’s vanished before them. This holds true with other railway museums.