Rebuilt SD70MACH orders

Saw this post on Twitter from January 2022: https://twitter.com/wdtx1402/status/1480646197094146050

If you look at that Twitter account, you'll see it's all (well done) fake photos of trains that don't exist.

chrisf wrote: ↑Thu Aug 11, 2022 5:26 pm If you look at that Twitter account, you'll see it's all (well done) fake photos of trains that don't exist.

The report of Indiana and Ohio buying new Vectrons made made me think this is a multiverse railfan site.

Good day from a visiting Brit.

Has a repainted SD70 been released for testing yet?

Thought I saw one south of LaSalle on August 20th around 2pm.

Update: 3907, the first SD70MACH has made it to Pueblo, CO for testing. Expect to see photos and videos of it on the test track very soon!

Really not understanding why a rebuilt locomotive of the same class would require this type of testing.... hopefully it's just a formality and it will be on its way to Chicago soon enough.

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I'm guessing the mods were extensive enough that they felt a need to flush out any mechanical or electrical problems. The trucks are also lighter, with one fewer traction motor each [edit: presumed], and I wouldn't be surprised if they wanted to see how that affects operation.

Metra’s instagram page showed an unveiling of SD70MACH number 500. It is painted in RTA heritage colors. The post mentions that the units will be delivered at a rate of one per month beginning in November.

Photos also on Twitter...

https://twitter.com/Metra/status/157988 ... gr%5Etweet

From the Tweet...

I'm a fan of the locomotive! But the botched heritage scheme, not so much.

I really think that these are a smart buy for Metro. It seems like many other commuter agencies seem to want to reinvent the wheel with each new locomotive order. These are off the shelf with almost 30 years of service behind them.

As a taxpayer, I'm glad to see some different thinking on equipment acquisitions.

OK with the baby blue paint, but they should have had the Metra logo in White... the black lettering ruins it.

Mr. METRA, is that really a match?

https://www.flickr.com/photos/5632/40015204251

Coming right from the source:
https://twitter.com/metra/status/157989 ... eFfx7HF2lw

So from the talk that's been going around, it seems that these have been rebuilt as 4-motor locomotives with an B1-1B configuration, so presumably they will have 5 inverters, 4 for traction, 1 for HEP. I'd also guess they went with the newer Mitsubishi electronics. I'm wondering if the motors will sound like the ones on the F125s out in LA.