Progress Rail PR43C
The Progress Rail PR43C is a C-C genset diesel-electric locomotive built by Progress Rail Services Corporation. It is the result of a conversion of existing EMD SD50 locomotives. This involves replacing the original EMD 645 prime mover with a pair of Caterpillar engines, a 12 cylinder C175 engine and a C18 engine. The locomotive was jointly designed by Progress Rail and Norfolk Southern Railway. Development began in 2008.
Three locomotives have been built; they were manufactured at Progress Rail's Mayfield, Kentucky factory. Two are operating in revenue freight service on Norfolk Southern, while a third is operating as a demonstrator unit for Progress Rail.[ Norfolk Southern has four more PR43Cs on order. The locomotives operating for Norfolk Southern work on freight trains in central Illinois, leading to speculation that they are being tested, as Caterpillar's headquarters are located in Peoria, Illinois.]
The process of converting an SD50 to a PR43C alters the external appearance of the locomotive; the original radiator section is replaced with a larger one that is similar in appearance to that of an EMD SD70ACe or SD70M-2.
As a result of repeated failures, the locomotives were retired in 2017, and all were cut up for scrap in 2018.
