Norfolk & Western SD40 High Nose M.U.

Up through the 1960's and 1970's, the Norfolk & Western's policy was to run its diesels long hood forward, and they also insisted on high short hoods (or noses).  These were done for the engineer's safety, affording the cab better protection in the event of a crash.  Not many railroads adopted these measures, which makes for a unique look in an N&W lashup.

During the late 1960's, too, the N&W adopted a blue paint scheme, that would have eased the transition to a proposed merger with the C&O.  This was short-lived after the merger was denied and a black and white "NW" scheme was adopted in 1971, however, it took them many years to get all their engines repainted.  Many of the blue units got so dirty that they are difficult to distinguish from black units in photos.

To make this pair of engines, I first had to create the SD40 (I'm using one model to represent both the SD40 and the SD40-2, as a class).  I did so, and released a "normal" SD40 lettered for SOO.  Then, I had to raise the nose, which was fairly simple, and skin it with the blue and yellow "hamburger" logo.  Finally, I had to flip it end-for-end; since I already had a version that was facing nose-first, I used that version as the "tender".  I have set the engine's specs (power curve and costs) to reflect that this is a pair of engines; the short and light trains in the game won't tax them, but maybe I'll come up with heavier cuts of cars at some future point in order to justify the greater investment.

Yes, I admit my thorough pro-N&W bias.  I hope you enjoy these, and if you want to see something else (like Southern Tuxedo-scheme units perhaps), I'd love to see you develop an alternative skin or two.


INSTRUCTIONS:

DOWNLOAD THE NWSD40 - as ZIP file, you must unzip and then place the PK4 file in "UserExtraContent", the rest into "EngineTypes". 

I am interested in your feedback, especially via Hawk's Forum. 
(http://hawkdawg.com/forums/index.php)
This engine is offered to you as a free gift; it took a fair amount of effort on my part to offer it to you.  Don't miss out on the best free gift that could ever be offered to you... not by me, but by God!  He created you, and He wants a relationship with you.  He offers it free, and He did all the work to make it happen.  All you gotta do is "download" and "install" Jesus Christ in your heart.

- Michael Rountree
wpandp.com