Union Pacific Railroad unveiled an advanced experimental locomotive at its J.R. Davis Yard in Roseville that will test three emissions-reducing technologies including exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), diesel oxidation catalysts (DOC), and diesel particulate filters (DPF).

Years in development, UP 9900 will be used for operations in northern California ranging approximately 200 miles from its base in Roseville. UP 9900 is the signature unit in a series of 25 locomotives that Union Pacific is analyzing as part of a broad test of various emissions-reduction techniques in northern and southern California. This is the latest step in the company’s ongoing effort to design, build and test technologies that reduce emissions.
Union Pacific engineers worked closely with locomotive manufacturer Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD) to reduce the standard freight locomotive engine size in UP 9900 to create the space needed to install EGR, DOC, and DPF. Known as “aftertreatment,” all three technologies will be used simultaneously in UP 9900 testing and are expected to help Union Pacific further pursue developing a locomotive that meets the U.S. EPA’s Tier 4 emission standard.

“This experimental locomotive is designed to advance emission-reduction technology,” said Mike Iden, Union Pacific general director, car and locomotive engineering. “This highly anticipated test represents the latest engineering milestone for Union Pacific.” 

To create the space needed to install the after treatment technology in the body of the locomotive, engineers reduced the engine size of a long haul locomotive used to move a train cross-country. Union Pacific and EMD expect UP 9900 to move toward the Tier 4 standard with a 45 percent reduction in the oxides of nitrogen emissions compared to the Tier 2 standard and an 85 percent reduction in particulate matter emissions based on preliminary analysis. Union Pacific and the California Air Resources Board will jointly analyze the locomotive’s emissions-reductions capability over the next 18 months. 

UP 9900 will be available for public viewing on Saturday, September 29 and Sunday, September 30 in Old Sacramento as part of the railroad’s community celebration, Union Pacific – Building America for 150 Years! The celebration is a partnership with California State Parks and the California State Railroad Museum. The event will commemorate 150 years since President Abraham Lincoln created the original Union Pacific by signing the Pacific Railway Act of July 1, 1862, and will be the most elaborate event staged in the Western United States as part of Union Pacific’s sesquicentennial year. More information about the Union Pacific – Building America for 150 Years!