The “SD950” is an ILW fast rebuild of an G&W SD9 which was outlawed by the USA’s EPA in 2023. The G&W didn’t actually pay for this, oh no, but ILW bought this locomotive from them and rebuilt it as a 2130 HP machine (with a Cummins QSK50 prime mover) to try and coax some sales back to the G&W, plus to demonstrate on the Parsons Vale Lines because it was likely that the EPA would follow up by turning their basilisk stare on the 250 Alcos (and handful of old EMDs) that were operating on the system.

(The legal department is planning on arguing that the railroad is on a huge electrification spree right now, so the environmental benefits are much greater than stopping everything and remanufacturing all these machines. But it is better to get a jump on countering the worst case in advance than to be unpleasantly surprised with a terrifyingly short deadline.)

ILW purchased this SD9 in May 2023, and by June it was finished, patch-painted, and testing on the BAR.