The matching bridge. Railfan/Railroad Magazine Editor Steve Barry was standing next to me in St. Paul, and showed me a photo he taken in this exact spot in 1982 of a Clinchfield SD45 at the same location. For the 75th Anniversary of The Santa Train, CSX and the Southern Appalachia Railway Museum restored 3632 and it lead north on the deadhead move to Kentucky, and emulating his photo seemed like the appropriate way to capture the moment.
The EMD SD (special duty) series are a strong and reliable kind of locomotive which still serve America's rails today. They have proved themselves reliable by clocking in several million miles of freight service over several decades.