As part of the BAR’s planned retirement of its most worn DL17s, some of them were planned to be rebuilt into modern locomotives a'la ILW’s RS-250 program. Derby did the first one of these by taking one of their GP38-2s, stripping the prime mover and electrical systems out, then dropping in a QSK78 and an AC drivetrain to make it into a 3300HP locomotive with much less pollution than the original 645E prime mover produced.

Subsequently, ILW took over the remanufacturing of these locomotives; Derby would strip them down to the frames, which would then be sent up to the works in St-Jean-Sur-Richelieu to be remanufactured into ILW eco-435m’s (official name; the Parsons Vale’s motive power department calls them RS-38s); the same QSK78 & AC drivetrain, but with a new (and very alco-like) superstructure on the existing EMD frame.

In 2023, ILW started producing a second version of the rs-38 which came with vista cabs, tweaks to the electrical system, and ballasted frames. They are otherwise mechanically identical to the first generation eco-435m’s

At roughly the same time in 2023, Derby restarted rebuilding GP38 carcasses themselves, using the existing EMD cab & short hood instead of the alco-style or vista cabs of the ILW units. After the 2025 abolition of EMD power the BAR ended up with a fairly huge pile of retired geeps, and rather than cut them they’re being remanufactured and sold to either the DLP or directly to various EMD-using but Cummins-curious railways.