Michigan-based Class II Lake State Railway Company (LSRC) is purchasing four EMD® SD70ACeT4 locomotives from Progress Rail, a Caterpillar Company. Numbered LSRC 6451 through 6454, they are former Progress Rail demonstrator units. Delivery is expected by the end of this year.
LSRC received an emissions grant to replace five older locomotives with four newer EPA Tier 4-compliant units locomotives. LSRC said it selected the SD70ACeT4 and Progress Rail “due to several factors, including delivery timing, parts commonality, and after sale support.” LSRC added it “has a dedicated team of mechanical professionals and maintains the diesel fleet in the modernized locomotive facility in Saginaw, Mich.”
Locomotives being retired are four EMD SD50-3s and an EMD SD40-2, all of which are more than 40 years old. LSRC’s 32-unit roster is all-EMD and includes MP15, GP38, GP40, SD40, SD50 and SD70 variants. “With these new locomotives, the LSRC fleet will be one of the youngest rostered by a short line or regional railroad, and the SD70 model type will represent 40% of our fleet,” LSRC added.
“I have managed several projects in my career that upgraded locomotive fleets for better emissions,” said LSRC Chief Mechanical Officer Roger Fuehring. “I feel very comfortable we will be receiving a great product. 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 President and CEO Mike Stickel said the new locomotives” will be helpful in supporting future growth, as our train sizes and carload volumes continue to grow. These are the first Tier 4 land AC-traction locomotives on our railroad. We appreciate the team at Progress Rail going the extra mile to put together a deal that worked for us within the parameters of our grant. They listened to what was important to us as a regional railroad and were also able to meet critical delivery timelines.”
Lake State Railway Company, Railway Age’s 2018 Short Line of the Year and 2021 Regional of the Year, was established in 1992. LSRC operates on a route structure of approximately 375 track-miles with six connecting interchanges. The company maintains headquarters and shop facilities in Saginaw and terminals in Plymouth, Flint, Midland, Bay City, Gaylord and Alpena. Annual freight volume is approximately 60,000 carloads serving a diversified mix of end markets, among them automotive, aggregates, cement, agriculture, forest products, metals and chemicals. Since 2022, LSRC has been owned by Antin Infrastructure Partners, a private equity firm focused on infrastructure investments in Europe and North America, with offices in New York, London and Paris.
