GLENCOE, Minn. – The Twin Cities & Western and its sister North Dakota railroad Red River Valley & Western are adding four GP38-2s to their motive power fleets. The Twin Cities & Western units are numbered 2015-2016, while the RRV&W units are 2017-2018. The locomotives are on long-term lease from First Union Rail, a division of Wells Fargo. Metro East Industries of East St. Louis, Ill., handled mechanical repairs and painting of the units. All four were built by EMD as high nose GP38ACs for the Southern Railway in 1971.
TC&W General Manager of Operations Will Brown tells Trains News Wire that the railroad expects to commission its units this week and they will enter service shortly after. RRV&W managers have not set a date for that road’s units to enter service.
The acquisitions will modernize the railroads' locomotive fleets and enable them to to more readily equip motive power with positive train control systems for trackage rights operations.
Twin Cities & Western, is in Glencoe and formed in 1991, while Red River Valley & Western is based in Wahpeton, N.D., and was established in 1987. Motive power is frequently exchanged between the two railroads.
In addition to conventional EMD power, both railroads also operate several Caterpillar-engine GP20C and GP30C locomotives.