Currently, SEPTA’s seeking to purchase 333 remanufactured Cummins ISL 280HP engines. It appears that 5640 was indeed the prototype of this retrofit, as well as 5617 (which is currently being retrofitted). Once these engines are purchased, they will likely to replace the Detroit Diesel Series 50 EGR engine which is currently being used in the 2003 Fleet (5613-5712), as well as the 2004 fleet (5713-5830, 5851-5950). It’s still unclear as to what SEPTA will do with the remaining engines, but will indeed be interesting to see which units these engines will show up on. One of the possible reasons why SEPTA is retrofitting the fleet is because the new emission standards which will go into action later this year. Since the DD50 EGR has been proven to be faulty engine, SEPTA has decided to take a proactive approach and replace these engines to try and save on costs. This in mind – the Cummins ISL engine costs are way cheaper compared to the DD50, plus since these engines are way smaller compared to the DD50, SEPTA will gain on Fuel MPG. You can read the offical bid here…
http://septa.org/business/over25000/bid02087b.html