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The Central California Traction Co. (CCT) recently began employing an Ultra-Low Emissions Locomotive (ULEL) manufactured by Brookville Equipment Corp.

The ULEL is designed to reduce emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOX), hydrocarbons, diesel particulate matter (PM) and other pollutants by an estimated 322.2 tons over 15 years compared with emissions from the locomotive it replaced. CCT plans to use the ULEL in switch service in Stockton, Calif. — primarily for switching operations at two yards and for seven major customers — and on its Lodi Line. A 106-year-old company, CCT is jointly owned by BNSF Railway Co. and Union Pacific Railroad, and operates 55 miles of track.

The short line received federal funding from the Diesel Emission Reduction Program to help purchase the switcher; funding was administered by California Air Resource Board.

The ULEL is a GP-38 platform powered with three Cummins QSK-19 Liter diesel engines. The locomotive is equipped with an inverter controlled dynamic brake; energy recovered from the dynamic brake during braking is used to power accessory loads on the locomotive.

The short line previously tested the ULEL for five weeks in the San Joaquin Valley Air Basin and found the locomotive cut fuel usage by 51 percent, and reduced NOX and PM emissions by 81.7 percent and 73.5 percent, respectively, compared with the short line’s current locomotives, said CCT General Manager Dave Buccolo in a prepared statement, adding that the test results "exceeded our expectations.”