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UP has 10 on order, BNSF is keeping its fleet, but most big railroads have stored their units or quit
Gensets have made their mark on the railroad industry in the last 15 years they've been in service. They have been scattered to almost every corner, from Class I railroads to regionals and short lines and to lease fleets. Beyond domestic production, the concept has spread to other continents.
Gensets were designed to fill a need for Union Pacific and BNSF to achieve a lower fleetwide average for nitrogen oxide emissions in the South Coast Air Basin in Southern California, where an air-pollution agreement was developed in the 1990s. Depending on how gensets were purchased (with public subsidies or not), low-emission locomotives could offset other locomotives with higher emissions. UP chose to purchase outright, while BNSF elected to keep larger numbers of...