Lake State Railway purchases four SD70ACe-T4 locomotives

The Progress Rail units, the Michigan railroad’s first AC-traction locomotives, will be delivered by the end of the year

Lake State Railway has acquired four SD70ACe Tier 4 locomotives from Progress Rail. Lake State Railway

SAGINAW, Mich. — Lake State Railway Co., the Michigan regional railroad, today announced that it is purchasing four SD70ACe-T4 locomotives from Progress Rail.

LSRC received an emissions grant to replace five older locomotives with four newer Tier 4 locomotives. The railroad says it chose the SD70ACe-T4 built by EMD successor Progress Rail due to several factors, including delivery timing, parts commonality, and after sale support.

Locomotives being retired include four SD50-3 locomotives and an SD40-2, all of which are over 40 years old. LSRC’s 32-locomotive roster is all-EMD and includes MP15, GP38, GP40, SD40, SD50, and SD70 variants.

With the new locomotives, the LSRC locomotive fleet will be one of the newest rostered by a shortline or regional railroad and the SD70 model type will represent 40% of the fleet. The locomotives will be numbered LSRC No. 6451 through No. 6454 and are former demonstrator units which have been thoroughly reconditioned and updated. The locomotives are expected to be delivered by the end of 2025.

LSRC Chief Mechanical Officer Roger Fuehring noted the support offered by Progress Rail helped make the decision on which locomotive vendor to use.

“I have managed several projects in my career which upgraded locomotive fleets for better emissions, and I feel very comfortable we will be receiving a great product,” Fuehring said in a statement. “We especially value the support Progress Rail has offered after the sale, which is critical given how much more complex these locomotives are compared to the older generation locomotives.”

LSRC CEO Mike Stickel says the new units will support traffic growth on the 375-mile regional, which handles about 60,000 carloads per year. “The new locomotives will be helpful as our train sizes and carload volumes continue to grow. These are not only the first Tier 4 locomotives on our railroad, they are also the first AC-traction locomotives,” he said.

LSRC maintains its fleet in a modern shop in Saginaw.

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