The P&W originally used diesels under the wire for their traffic that originated or was delivered to industries along the NE Corridor, but the new management preferred to only run motors under the wire. So after the original order of electro-diesels had spent a few years running a batch of locomotives for the P&W were ordered soon after the D&H’s AC/DC order.

ILW’s eco-654fe model has a pair of slightly more powerful diesels (Cummins QSK60s) powering it instead of the Cat 3512s that the DP1s used. AC/DC units, too, so they could be used for runthroughs from the NE Corridor, onto the CV, and up into Canada under PV&T wires.

In the late 2010s, ILW engineers looked at the sizes of the QSK78 and thought that if you can fit two QSK60s into an eco-p carbody you should be able to fit a (smaller) QSK78 into the same compartments as the originals. ILW was interested in the idea of cataloging a ridiculously high-powered diesel, so approved the construction of 4 prototypes to test the waters.

Mechanically, everything fit, but the cooling system needed to be rearranged to properly cool these slightly hotter running prime movers, and after shuffling around the cooling system, the transformer, the control & power cabinets, and the prime movers to balance the weight ILW ended up with a slightly different unit that, if you were looking at it in very dim light and it was smokey you might mistake for a DL1.

The LT&L was happy to have these units doing their testing on LT&L rails, and after they had the bugs worked out and went out as demonstrators (other railroads were interested in the power they could produce, but would only place orders for hood units) purchased the 3 remaining prototypes (one had been wrecked during the demonstration tour.)

All of these units are now assigned to intermodal service on the LT&L/B&Q/CPR/OSW international route between St Johns & Chicago.