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.
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