The EMD F40C is a 6-axle 3,200 horsepower (2.4 MW) diesel-electriclocomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division in 1974 for commuter service in Chicago. EMD only built 15 locomotives; the decline of the 6-axle design for passenger service led to the adoption of the 4-axle EMD F40PH as the standard passenger locomotive in the United States.[1] Along with a small fleet of HEP-equipped EMD SD70MAC locomotives operating on the Alaska Railroad, the F40Cs were the last six-axle passenger locomotives in daily service in mainland North America until the delivery of Metra's first SD70MACH in 2022.
As of March 2022, all but two F40Cs have been retired, though none are operating. They were replaced by the MPI MP36PH-3S in 2003–2004. Locomotives #600-#609 and #613 were the first to be retired in 2003 and had their road numbers unregistered with the Federal Railroad Administration. They were all retired before 2007. #610 was unregistered in 2004 and was sent to National Railway Equipment in Dixmoor, Illinois. It was scrapped on September 24, 2020.[2] The only F40Cs that remain are #611 and 614. Both locomotives are currently stored in Metra's Western Avenue rail yard.
