Railroaders place to shoot the shit.

In classic automobile parlance, its known as a resto mod: taking a battered, rusting hulk and restoring it to better-than-new condition while making major modifications that improve performance and reliability (and alter the cars appearance).

Thats exactly what Genesee & Wyomings Buffalo & Pittsburgh Railroad is doing with two 1950-vintage EMD SW9 switchers. The two ancient units, which were originally destined for the cutters torch, were rescued from the scrap heap and, under the direction of G&W Vice President Motive Power David L. Powell, are being transformed into twin-engine, 1,400-hp ultra-low-emission genset locomotives. No. 1401, formerly Georgia Central no. 952, was unveiled during a July 12 ceremony at B&Ps Butler, Pa., Locomotive Shop. Sister no. 1400, formerly Galveston Port Terminal Railway RSS 771, is nearing completion and is expected to be placed into service in September. Both units have been assigned to B&Ps Butler Yard, where they will service customer A.K. Steel as well as classify inbound trains and build outbound trains.

Painted in G&Ws bright orange and black livery and sporting new Green Locomotive logos, the recycled locomotives (as Powell likes to call them) are equipped with twin modular gensets, each with a 700-hp Cummins QSK19 diesel engine, from Brookville Equipment Corp. The control system is Brookvilles proprietary TMV (Traction Motor Vehicle) microprocessor technology. The gensets are EPA-certified to Tier II Rail and Tier III Off-Road emissions standards. They are projected to reduce NOx, HC, CO, and PM emissions by, respectively, 58%, 94%, 37%, and 80%, compared to a conventional yard locomotive, and reduce fuel consumption by 20.7%.

Brookville supplied the genset assemblies in kit form; B&Ps locomotive shop forces managed all design and construction work and performed the overall rebuild. Thus, 1400 and 1401 are the first genset locomotives built by a regional or short line railroad.

The 123-ton locomotives, primarily funded through a federal CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation Air Quality) grant administered by the Southwestern Pennsylvania Commission, are the culmination of a public-private partnership effort that began more than two years ago. The project, which also involved the Pennsylvania DOT, was programmed into the SWPs 2009 Transportation Improvement Project plan. Butler County, Pa., is classified as an EPA non-attainment area for eight-hour ozone and fine PM, meaning that the ozone and PM2.5 levels in the region constantly exceed National Ambient Air Quality Standards. The Federal Railroad Administration provided project oversight. B&P was required to compete the project by year-end 2011.

Total project cost is $1.69 million: 80% CMAQ funding of $1.24 million, a 20% B&P match of $309,000, and transportation costs to move the original locomotives from Georgia and Texas of $140,950. RJ Corman and Hulcher transported the original cores via flatcar to Pennsylvania.

Powell initially put the program out for bid; five companies expressed interest but only oneBrookvillewas able to meet the specifications. Our specs were rather challenging, Powell said to Railway Age at the launch of 1401. We wanted the genset supplier to be able to fit two assemblies into an older locomotive frame that was considerably shorter than a more-modern MP1500 or similar unit. We wanted an electric air compressor and IGBT controls, an event recorder, a waste oil tank, Tier II certificationand of course...