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Today’s Railfan Video of the Day features a chance encounter with railroading’s newest technology. HuelsysTrainBlog was on hand in Muncie, Indiana on October 28, 2016, as a pair of new SD70ACe-T4 demonstrator units left the Progress Rail factory on Norfolk Southern train L82 en route to Norfolk, Virginia and testing on the NS. After testing on the Norfolk Southern, the units will spend time testing on the Kansas City Southern before eventually being delivered to Union Pacific.

Progress Rail, a subsidiary of Caterpillar, can trace its locomotive roots back to the Electro-Motive Company, founded in 1922. EMC was later acquired by General Motors, becoming Electro-Motive Division, or EMD, the dominant American diesel-electric locomotive producer from the 1930’s to the late 1980’s. Increased competition from General Electric and poor management decisions of the 1990’s hampered EMD’s production and General Motors eventually was forced to divest itself of EMD, then Electro-Motive Diesel. Caterpillar purchased EMD in 2010.

In January 2015, new EPA Tier 4 emissions regulations went into effect for all newly manufactured diesel locomotives. The SD70ACe-T4 locomotives seen here are the first Progress Rail freight locomotives to successfully meet this new standard. General Electric’s latest “GEVO” locomotives such as the ET44AC meet those standards and currently give GE a monopoly on new US-production freight locomotives. Progress Rail hopes that these new SD70ACe-T4’s, powered by an all-new 1010 Series 4-cycle diesel engine, will set a new standard for 21st Century freight locomotives. Only time will tell.

We enthusiastically thank HuelsysTrainBlog for capturing and sharing this timely video with all of us. Enjoy!

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