Great Northern 400

Great Northern 400 (Hustle Muscle)

GN 400 Hustle Muscle on the Minnesota Transportation Museum's Osceola and St. Croix Valley Railway in 2016.

Type and origin Power type Diesel Builder Electro-Motive Division Serial number 31598 Model SD45 Build date 1966

Specifications Gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Length 65 feet (20 m) Fuel capacity 4,000 US gallons (15,000 l; 3,300 imp gal) Prime mover EMD 645E3 Cylinders 20

Performance figures Power output 3,600 horsepower (2,700 kW)

Career Operators Great Northern Railway Burlington Northern Great Northern Railway Historical Society Numbers GN 400 BN 6430 Locale Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States Delivered May 1966 Retired 1986 Restored 1989, 2007 Current owner Great Northern Railway Historical Society Disposition Operational

Great Northern 400, nicknamed Hustle Muscle, is a restored SD45 diesel locomotive originally owned by the Great Northern (GN). It was built in 1966 as the first production SD45 by Electro-Motive Division.

GN 400 was the first of eight SD45s (numbered 400-407) delivered to the Great Northern in May and June 1966. GN 400 was the fourth SD45 built by EMD after the first three demonstrators. Great Northern christened it with its nickname, "Hustle Muscle." All eight SD45s wore Great Northern's simplified orange and green paint scheme, but only 400 wore a nickname. In total, Great Northern owned 27 SD45s built from 1966 through 1968.

In 1970, the GN became part of the Burlington Northern (BN). The locomotive was renumbered to 6430, but through 1972 it still wore its GN paint, with the GN logos removed. In 1973, the locomotive underwent a massive "class-one overhaul", and was painted into BN's cascade green scheme. At the request of railfans, BN kept its nickname painted on both sides of its long hood.

The BN retired 6430 in 1986, and donated the locomotive to the Great Northern Railway Historical Society. In 1989, the locomotive was repainted back into its original GN appearance and renumbered back to 400 in Grand Forks, North Dakota, but there was some controversy over its restored appearance, including the misplaced and off-centered "Hustle Muscle" nickname. The locomotive was then kept in Duluth, Minnesota, until the early 2000s when it was moved to the former Great Northern Jackson Street Roundhouse in Saint Paul, Minnesota, which houses the Minnesota Transportation Museum. In 2006, the 400 was repainted again, this time accurately with the "Hustle Muscle" nickname in its correct location. The second repaint was completed in Horicon, Wisconsin, using original EMD and GN diagrams of the locomotive. Since then it has been displayed in a stall of the Jackson Street Roundhouse, 400's original home.