RIVER GROVE, Ill. — Metra has recently accelerated testing of its SD70MACH locomotives, with the first test run with one of the remanufactured units leading a train taking place earlier this week. Unit No. 509, accompanied by F59PH No. 99, is shown at River Grove on Tuesday, Oct. 17, on a test run that took it to Tower B17, at the west end of Bensenville Yard on Metra’s Milwaukee West line. The locomotives had previously operated in tests as trailing units on Metra’s BNSF line, and more recently on the Milwaukee West. Metra has ordered 15 of the remanufactured freight locomotives from Progress Rail under a contract approved in 2019 [see “Metra board approves locomotive purchase …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 20, 2019], with an option for up to 27 more. The first of the units was delivered just over a year ago, in October 2022. There is no word yet on when or where the units will enter service.
Anything to avoid Tier 4. It’s like 1974 where your auto needed a 350 cid V-8 to match the acceleration of a 200 cid 6 from 10 years earlier.
2 axles are now unpowered since less tractive effort is needed for passenger service. This makes 2 inverters available for other uses. One is used for HEP and the other is a backup that can be used for HEP or traction.
The SD70MACHs are the first six-axle passenger engines since the EMD F40C and the Alaska Railroad’s HEP-equipped SD70MACs. The first unit was delivered in 2022.
Dr. Güntürk Üstün
I believe one or two of the traction motor inverters has been repurposed for HEP.
Is the 59 for hep? Don’t know where the power will come from on a freight loco.