Builder: Matt Csenge
Region: Americas
Category entered:
Year entered: 2026
Brand of building bricks used:
LEGO
Since 2026, the Brick Train Awards have accepted models created with other LEGO®-compatible construction brick systems.
About Erie Lackawanna SD45 locomotive 3632 by Matt Csenge
The SD45 is a 6-axle diesel-electric locomotive built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division (EMD) between 1965 and 1971. A total of 1,260 were built for American railroads before the SD45-2 succeeded the class. The Erie Lackawanna Railway (EL) purchased 34 SD45 locomotives, numbered 3601-3634.
The EL was formed by the 1960 merger of the former Erie Railroad and the Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad, a common trend in North American railroading at the time. Like many other railroads, particularly in the Northeast, the EL began to decline in the late 1960s due to competition from highway and air transportation, among other factors. The company was forced into bankruptcy in 1972, and despite initially proceeding from this with a favorable outlook, by 1975 had petitioned and was accepted into Conrail at the last minute.
In 1976, many railroads began painting locomotives and other rolling stock with red, white, and blue paint schemes to celebrate the bicentennial of the United States. Despite knowing their company would not exist by the actual bicentennial, July 4, 1976, the EL made the decision to paint SD45 no. 3632, SDP45 no. 3638, and caboose C354 into a celebratory bicentennial scheme!