DRGW Tunnel Motors

Rio Grande owned a total of 73 SD40T-2 locomotives, nick-named “tunnel motors” for their unique radiator arrangement which drew intake air from deck-level grilles at the rear of the unit. This was designed to more efficiently cool the engines when inside tunnels by drawing air from lower down. Arguments occur over how effective the technique was, but what is not argued is the fact that these units were highly successful in a demanding role.

Rio Grande’s SD40T-2s came in several groups, as shown in this table.

Number Range	Date Purchased	Comments
5341 – 5355	Oct 1974	“Short”(81-inch) nose with ratchet handbrake. (All SD40T-2s were delivered in the billboard “Rio Grande” scheme.) Mars lights in low nose. *

5341	5342	5343	5344	5345	5346	5347	5348	5349	5350
5351	5352	5353	5354	5355

Number Range	Date Purchased	Comments
5356 – 5366	July 1975	“Short” nose with ratchet handbrake. Mars lights in low nose. *

5356	5357	5358	5359	5360	5361	5362	5363	5364	5365
5366

Number Range	Date Purchased	Comments
5367 – 5373	Aug 1975	“Short” nose with ratchet handbrake. Mars lights in low nose. *

5368

5370

5372

Number Range	Date Purchased	Comments
5374 – 5385	Jan 1977	“Long” (88-inch) nose with wheel handbrake. Mars lights in low nose. *

5374	5375	5376	5377	5378	5379	5380	5381	5382	5383
5384	5385

Number Range	Date Purchased	Comments
5386 – 5397	Aug 1978	“Long” nose with wheel handbrake. Low-nose (Pyle) light mounted in external box.

5386	5387	5388	5389	5390	5391	5392	5393	5394	5395
5396	5397

Number Range	Date Purchased	Comments
5398 – 5413	Mar 1980	“Long” nose with wheel handbrake. Leslie RSL-3L horns. Pyle Gyralights in nose.

5398	5399	5400	5401	5402	5403	5404	5405	5406	5407
5408	5409	5410	5411	5412	5413

* Many Mars lights changed to Pyle Gyralights over time.

As with all my pages, click the thumbnail to see much larger images.

The photos below are arranged numerically wherever possible. Final disposition data included in most cases.

	No. 5344, spotted in California by Duane Simmons in the late 1990s. The 5344 went through a series of UP renumberings starting in 1999.
	No. 5346, on a train in California in the late 1990s (note the class lights are illuminated). It has UP-style ditch lights by now. Duane Simmons photo. The 5346 went through a series of UP renumberings starting in November 1999.
	No. 5347 — Nov. 20, 1991, leading a unit coal train with 9 units, about to enter Tunnel 1. No, the hill’s not really this steep! . The 5347 was retired on 11/28/2001.
	Top: No. 5348 — leading a hot freight at Coal Creek (July 1986). Bottom: No. 5348 at Denver’s North Yard (west side) on November 19, 1990. It’s in the middle of a road consist, preparing to hook onto a westbound train. The 5348 was wrecked on Nov 22, 1994 at Pando, along with fellow Tunnel Motor No. 5370.
	No. 5350 — On December 30th, 1991, it was leading a unit coal train (with 8 units) down the front range, about to enter Tunnel 1. Second unit is another tunnel motor. Third unit is SD50 No. 5511. The 5350 was repainted into Southern Pacific colors prior to the UP merger. After that it was repainted again, as Union Pacific No. 8609. Finally retired by UP June 27, 2003.
	Here, No. 5351 is the second unit on an eastbound CSDPU coal train as it exits Coal Creek Canyon. April 8, 1984
	Four views of No. 5352 — repainted into Southern Pacific colors prior to the UP merger, this unit was photographed at Campbellton, TX on the rainy afternoon of 3/23/2001. This unit, and other repaints of the SP era, originally had a small “D&RGW” caption under the cab numbers. By 2001 they are gone from the 5352. The 5352 was renumbered to UP 8610 10/8/2001, retired 12/26/2001, and went to a scrapper 4/15/2002.
	No. 5353. Top: leading a freight at Blue Mountain road in early 1982. Bottom: It’s seen in California, late 1990s. Duane Simmons photo. Retired August 2001 and sold to RJ Corman.
	No. 5355. Top: at Intrepid Mining (near Moab) at the very end of the Potash spur, early 1990. David Standen photo. NEW IMAGE Bottom: Post-UP merger, Brad Hoeme photo. The 5355 was repainted into Union Pacific colors and numbered 4043, then renumbered 8613.
	TOP: No. 5356 leads two fellow Tunnel Motors and a GP30 (not visible) out of Coal Creek canyon, Thanksgiving Day 1982. BOTTOM: No. 5356 as she appeared on Nov. 8, 2002, working near Valley Junction, TX. Do the math, that’s nearly exactly 20 years between these images. Bryan Flint photo The 5356 was patched to UP8614 on 1/10/03, then renumbered as UP7877 around 10/20/2003.
	No. 5357 leads five tunnel motors towards Price, east of Helper, in April 1998. Note the box on the nose– for some reason this unit received the external headlight box, much like the series 5386-5397. (Dennis Walts photo) The 5357 was renumbered to UP 8615 on 12/28/1999.
	SD40T-2’s 5358 and 5362— Four Tunnel Motors and an SD45 are exiting Coal Creek with the CSDPU unit train, bound for Colorado Springs, in April of 1984. Both of these units painted into UP colors, as # 4046 and 4049, respectively.
	No. 5359 — Aug. 18, 1996 running second on a coal train, at Cotopaxi, CO. An access door is open, showing a fire extinguisher. This unit was repainted in UP colors on 4/20/1999 as # 4047, and renumbered later to # 8617
	No. 5361 Top: leading the MDVPU manifest freight through Sedalia on 4/26/2001. Three other tunnel motors (including one Espee unit) are trailing. Middle: seen in California circa 1999. Duane Simmons photo. I personally saw it working the Minturn local in August 2001; it had a major mechanical issue in November and was retired. No. 5361 was retired Nov 28, 2001 and subsequently sold (see the Deadline feature for later photos). Now it’s working its second life for RJ Corman in Kentucky.
	No. 5363 Top: barely seen through a gap in the trees at Cotopaxi on 8/18/1996. Not the greatest of views, but it’s good to document every TM I can. Bottom: in California circa 1999. Duane Simmons photo. Renumbered December 1999 to 8620 and then to 2892.
	No. 5364 — Aug. 1996, at Cotopaxi, CO. with a coal train. This was three weeks prior to the UP merger. The power for this train consisted of three Rio Grande tunnel motors and one EMD lease SD40-2. This unit was repainted and renumbered as UP # 4051, as of 9/20/1999, renumbered to 8621, and as of 28 Dec 2001 wore No. 2893.
	Top: No. 5365 on Nov. 20, 1991 at Tunnel 1 (same train as the 5347 shot). There were 9 units on this coal train: 4-3-2. This one is part of the swing helper (mid-train set). Bottom: July 20, 1994 in the fog at the same location, but facing the other way. It was running as swing help, in tandem with EMD SD70M demonstrator # 7000, on the eastbound CSUX train. The 5365 was patched as UP 8622 on 5/07/2002.
	No. 5366 and SD50 No. 5515 are the lead two units of a four-unit swing helper pushing at Glenwood Springs, CO on June 29, 1995. The other two units were a speed-lettered ex-SSW SD45T-2 and a SP SD40M. The 5366 was smoking up a storm on this day! The 5366 was repainted into Union Pacific colors and renumbered 4053 on 12/12/97, renumbered again to 8623 in May 2000, and renumbered yet again to 2894 in January 2003.
	No. 5367 in California, circa 1999. Duane Simmons photo. Beginning in Nov. 1999 it went through a series of UP re-numberings.
	The former D&RGW No. 5369, now UP No. 4056, sits third in an eastbound consist in the yard at Tucson, AZ on 3/31/2000. For a fairly recent repaint job, the upper stripe is in pretty poor shape! It looks like the Mars light is gone, but the horn is still over the cab. Shortly afterwards, it was renumbered to 8626.
	No. 5371 at Rocky, running second on the MRODV train on 11/25/2000. Horn is moved, class lights and Mars light gone, but looking good nonetheless. She also appears on my Helper page. As things turned out, this would be the last active D&RGW unit not repainted or renumbered by Union Pacific. In a last-minute reprieve, UP decided to keep her in her original paint until retirement. In 2008 she finally left for Cheyenne, where she was stored until being donated to the Ogden Rail Museum in 2009. BOTTOM: Here she’s seen in Helper, UT on November 10, 2001.
	Top: No. 5376 and 5373 are the swing helper on an eastbound PSC unit coal train at Tolland, CO. on Nov. 22, 1994. Bottom: No. 5376, about two years later, at Cotopaxi, CO (8/18/96). Here it shows the SPL modifications. The 5373 was patched to UP 8628 (6/27/01), and retired 8/29/01. Subsequently it went to Balfour Beatty and numbered 203 (with a solid blue paint scheme). The 5376 was patched to 8631 on 10/30/2001. On 9/30/2009, # 203 began working on the San Luis & Rio Grande, working out of Alamosa. This arrangement lasted about a year.
	No. 5377, shown here after SP modifications. It’s on the Dirt Train on 11/10/2001. Somehow I managed to crop off the bottom of the locomotive… Unit retired by UP in October 2003.
	No. 5381 Top: Viewed in North Yard, Denver in the summer of 1997. Steve Walden photo. Bottom: The 5381 was repainted into Union Pacific colors and renumbered 4065 (Brad Hoeme photo), then to 8635.
	No.5385 . Top: leading the MRODV at Rocky on 11/25/2000. The Mars light gone, but the patch has been re-striped, and she’s looking good. Bottom: Southbound at Sedalia, April 26, 2001 on the MDVPU. The 5385 was patched as UP 8638 on 12/08/01.
	No. 5388 was repainted in Speed Lettering around early 1994. Seen here circa 1999. Duane Simmons photo. Retired by UP in August 2001.
	No. 5389, after patching to UP 8582. Note the external box for mounting the low-nose Pyle light, though it is blanked over by this time. Most of the structural modifications appear to be SP-era. Bryan Flint photo. The 5389 was patched on Aug 11, 2001, and retired at the end of January 2003.
	No. 5390, at Mounds, Utah on the Dirt Train on November 10, 2001. The usual Espee modifications are evident. UPDATED IMAGE No. 5390 was patched to UP 8583 on 10/25/2005, being the second-to-last active Rio Grande tunnel motor in original paint/number until that time.
	No. 5392 is westbound at Tucson, AZ on March 12, 1995. It’s got ditch lights, relocated horns, and SP-style number boards. Also note the headlight box on the nose, now blanked. The 5392 was retired on 2/27/01.
	No. 5393 leads five SD’s on a long westbound drag at East Pinecliffe on 7/21/94. The 5393 was repainted into Southern Pacific colors prior to the UP merger, and renumbered to UP 8586 on 8/29/01.
	No. 5394 was repainted into SP colors around 1995. Shown here a few years later in California. Duane Simmons photo. Retired February 2002.
	No. 5395, seen Nov. 20, 1991 at Tunnel 1. You can see the external low-nose headlight box. The 5395 was repainted into Union Pacific colors and renumbered 4018, then renumbered to 8588 on 3/26/1999.
	No. 5401, on November 10, 2001 in Helper, Utah. No. 5401 was renumbered to UP 8594 6/30/2005, one of the last units done. Now it resides at the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden.
	No. 5402, along with fellow tunnel motor 5408, stored at Burnham in early 1990. These two were wrecked on Tennessee Pass on 2/07/1989. Photo courtesy of David Standen. No. 5402 was sold and eventually rebuilt as FURX 3021, an SD40-2. 5408 was scrapped not long after this photo.
	No. 5403 is surrounded by SP units but on home rails at Cotopaxi, CO on Aug 17, 1996. The 5403 was repainted into Union Pacific colors and renumbered 8595 on 12/1/1999.
	No. 5404 is running second on the westbound Z train (priority intermodal), doing 70 mph alongside I-70 just east of Parachute. (8/11/1999) The 5404 was retired at North Little Rock on 6/03/2000, sold by UP in December 2001, and reported seen in East St. Louis, missing parts (Jan 2006).
	SD40T-2 Nos. 5405 and 5351, SD45 No. 5316, and tunnel motors 5362 and 5358, are leading the CSUX unit train at Coal Creek, April 8, 1984. The 5405 was retired on 2/27/2001.
	No. 5412 was repainted into Speed Lettering circa 1994. Seen here about 5 years later in California. Duane Simmons photo. Retired November 2001.
	Top: No. 5413, the highest-numbered tunnel motor, in the siding at Silt with a dead manifest train on 8/3/1998. Bottom: The opposite side is seen here, from across Interstate 70. The 5413 was retired on 12/19/01, and subsequently sold to the Wheeling & Lake Erie, where it currently retains its original paint.