The Joint Locomotive Pool found itself with a pile of aged EMD SD40s after the Parsons Vale Lines did their big purge of EMD power in 2024-2025, and to make these machines more suitable for sale or lease in the USA had ILW rebuild them from the frame up as Tier 4f compatable machines.

ILW rebuilt them by lopping the old EMD cabs off and replacing them with ILW’s Vista safety cabs, then pulling the old EMD prime movers and replacing them with new Cummins QSK78 diesels, resulting in a machine that uses the old EMD electrical system but produces 3500 HP instead of the original 3000HP those machines are capable of.

Most of the old EMD cooling circuit was reused, and the existing long hood remained intact with the exception of adding in new air intake vents for the prime mover and exhaust scrubber.

ILW offered a version with a Cummins QSK95, which would have required an AC drivetrain, but the JLP declined that because the flexicoil trucks that are under the SD40 can’t take full advantage of that power on curvy track.

17 of these units were rebuilt, half at ILW Schenectady, half at the BAR’s Derby Shops. All of them are on lease to various railroads, and are in operation as of 2026.