In many ways, the SD70ACU is a modified SD90MAC. The SD90MAC struggled to find a place on US and Canadian railroads in the 90s. While Union Pacific and Canadian Pacific purchased many of these engines, smaller railroads felt alienated from the gigantic prime movers which limited the SD90MAC's operational use. In 2016, Norfolk Southern decided to convert several SD90MACs to SD70ACUs, the Siemens tech was swapped with Mitsubishi components and the cab was replaced with the SD70ACe's cab.
Canadian Pacific decided to rebuild their collection of SD90MACs as well. However instead of going to Norfolk Southern to rebuild these engines, they reached out to Progress Rail instead. 60 ACUs were delivered in 2019, and this order contained several heritage units. These special heritage units were used to commemorate different branches of the US and Canadian militaries.
- N Scale
- Ready to Run
- DC operation
- DCC Friendly (decoder sold separately)
- Fine scale detailing
- Powerful five-pole Kato motor
- Dual brass flywheels
- Directional headlight
- Pre-printed number boards
- Front and rear ditch lights
- Headlight placement as appropriate per railroad
- Kato magnetic knuckle couplers