CANADIAN Pacific (CP) has given several recently rebuilt locomotives its original original Tuscan red, grey, and gold livery, the first locos appearing in mid-October.
The ‘new’ SD70ACU locos are rebuilds of earlier EMD SD9043MAC locos, retaining an overhauled EMD 16-cylinder 710 engine, uprated to 4,500hp, but with new electronics, cabs, positive train control and Tier 1 emissions reduction equipment.
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CP has placed orders with Progress Rail to rebuild 60 EMD SD9043MAC six-axle locos.
The majority are from CP’s own SD9043MAC fleet (loco Nos. 9100 – 9160), which have been in store for up to a decade plus two stored examples bought from Union Pacific (Union Pacific).
Progress Rail is undertaking the CP rebuilding programme in the USA with the rebuilt locos being numbered from 7000 upwards. The first of 10 to carry versions of CP’s original diesel livery entered traffic on October 13.
The SD90MAC design was introduced in 1995 and was supposed to be fitted with the new 6,000hp 16-cylinder EMD265 or ‘H’ engine.
However, as this new engine had many technical problems EMD delivered most locos equipped with a 4,300hp 16-cylinder EMD 710 engine, with the locos known as SD9043MAC.
CP did buy four locos fitted with the EMD265 engine in 1996, but these have already been scrapped.
UP had 62 of these locos and withdrew some after just five years’ service.
CP is not the only railroad to rebuild SD9043MAC locos to the new SD70ACU version. Between 2015 and 2019 US railroad Norfolk Southern rebuilt 110 at its own workshops, using second-hand locos, most of which had originally been with UP.
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