Does anyone have any information about this project?
Units were stripped to the frame, fuel tanks, trucks, and engine blocks were reused, AR-10 Alternators were installed, traction motors rebuilt to D78 standards. New cabs and bodywork, new radiators, and dynamic braking. Diesel engines received 645 power asemblies and were rated at 1800 hp. Units rebuilt from BN GP9s (including a couple of "GP5"s) and GP18s. Last ten units rebuilt were wired to enable them to power BN rotary snowplows. Fifty locomotives total BN 1500 - 1539, 1590 - 1599. Rebuilt 1992-93.
I can list before and after numbers if you need them.
I read that the fuel tanks weren’t reused. One of the major goals of the program was to standardize the components . When Morrison Knudson started to recieve the units that BN wanted rebuilt they found that they came with various sizes of fuel tanks. In order to make all parts standard among the fleet new fuel tanks were fabricated for all of them.