FP45

The **FP45** is a diesel locomotive in the game Railroad Tycoon II. It becomes available in the year 1968, and is the second fastest diesel locomotive in the entire game, with a top speed of 106mph. Because of this, the FP45 can be used effectively on most medium-long distance passenger routes. However, it lacks the hauling power in comparison to some of the other diesel locomotives for it to be used on freight duties. It can haul 4 passenger cars at a speed of around 90mph.

## Strategy

The FP45 is a decent replacement for the F9 and GG1 which both retire in 1970. Because the F9 and GG1 are both better locomotives in many specifications, it's not a bad idea for the player to hold off on buying FP45's, instead opting for a second generation of the aforementioned locomotives just before they retires, or using the Class 55 Deltic if not in North America. The FP45 has a high top speed and high fuel costs, passenger supply must always be relatively high at stations to prevent idle time, and the distance between stations should also be larger, to prevent the easily made losses with the FP45. As mentioned before, the low power of the FP45 means that freight services really should be left to the GP18, and eventually the SD45 (1972) or the electric Class E111. The FP45 has decent acceleration, although it is not quite on par in terms of reliability, with FP45's suffering from consistent breakdowns within a few years. The FP45 has no retirement date, and it certainly still is useful on medium-long distance passenger services as the player moves into the future, as long as the player decides not to electrify. The player can optionally use the AMD-103 (1993), but this locomotive is far too expensive, and really can only be used on more heavy-duty routes with more hills or heavier loads. Once a route is electrified though, the Class E111 should be used instead, as the cheap running costs and excellent reliability are hard to beat compared to the FP45. For the longest passenger routes, the player will want to eventually use the Thalys Bullet, or the Eurostar when the come out in 1994 (only if electrified).

## History

The **EMD FP45** is a cowl unit type of C-C diesel locomotive produced in the United States by General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD). It was produced beginning in 1967 at the request of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, which did not want its prestigious *Super Chief* and other passenger trains pulled by freight style hood unit locomotives, which have external walkways.

When Amtrak took over passenger service, the FP45s were reassigned to fast freight service, particularly Santa Fe's *Super C* high-speed intermodal run. They were soon repainted from their original red and silver *Warbonnet* scheme to the standard blue and yellow freight scheme when the steam generators were removed and they were permanently assigned to the freight pool. In June 1989, two of the units, #5992 and #5998, were repainted once more in a modified version of the *Warbonnet* scheme (this time, displaying *Santa Fe* in large, red letters "billboard"-style across the side) and re-designated as #101 and #102. The units reentered service on July 4 as part of the new "Super Fleet" — the first Santa Fe units to be so decorated for freight service. The six remaining units were thereafter similarly repainted and renumbered to 90-93 and 95-98 (the engine that would have been #94 having been wrecked and retired in 1981), and remained in this scheme (some re–lettered BNSF after the merger) until their retirement in the late 1990s, after some 30 years of service. No. 91 was sold to the Wisconsin Central in January 1995, becoming their #6652.

Of the 9 FP45s Santa Fe owned, 6 were donated to museums around the country, and in 2018, the Illinois Railway Museum restored their FP45 #92 to operation, almost 20 years after the locomotive had been donated.

The units purchased by the Milwaukee Road were painted to the Milwaukee's orange and black scheme after Amtrak took over passenger service, but were all scrapped in the 1980s. None have survived.

**Trivia**

The locomotive's in-game model appears to be based on the HO scale FP45 offered either by LIMA or AHM, which were offered in the 1980s. The locomotive is decorated for Amtrak, however, Amtrak never owned an FP45 in real life. They did own the SDP40F, which was very similar in appearance to the FP45; thus for many years, many model manufacturers often depicted the SDP40F using the FP45. It wasn't until the 2010s that Athearn would finally offer an accurate, non-brass model of the SDP40F in HO scale, with an N-scale model being released by KATO at about the same time.