Here's a little history about the EMD SD70ACU and how the Lord Strathcona's Horse came to be. 

The EMD SD70ACU is a 6-axle 4,300 hp (3,200 kW) road switcher diesel-electric locomotive originally built by General Motors Electro-Motive Division as an SD90MAC, and rebuilt by the Norfolk Southern Railway and Progress Rail Services. They are operated by two railroads, Norfolk Southern and the Canadian Pacific Railway.

The SD70ACU began under Norfolk Southern, who rebuilt their SD90MACs to this configuration at its shops in Altoona, Pennsylvania. The first locomotive entered the rebuilding process in September 2015, which was number 7299. As of 2019, all 110 units have been released into active service.

All of the SD70ACUs will be rebuilt with the latest EMD cab which meets current FRA crashworthiness standards. The Siemens electronics will be replaced with Mitsubishi electronics. The rebuild also includes the installation of Ultra Cab II, locomotive speed limiter (LSL), and cab signals. The trucks will be rebuilt only as needed and they are not getting traction motors swapped out.

In 2018, Canadian Pacific started a similar rebuild program with their long dormant SD90MAC fleet. Unlike NS, the work on these rebuilds will not be done in-house, but by Progress Rail at their Mayfield, Kentucky and Muncie, Indiana facilities.

In 2018, it was announced that the Canadian Pacific Railway came to an agreement with Progress Rail Services to rebuild 30 of Canadian Pacific's long dormant SD90MAC fleet into a similar rebuild as what Norfolk Southern had done. The new Canadian Pacific SD70ACUs are numbered 7000–7029. In 2019, CP decided to rebuild their remaining 28 SD90MACs. It had originally purchased 61 SD90MACs, but since they had been in long term storage since 2012, three units were unfit for rebuilding. To make up for the loss, CP purchased two SD90MACs from Union Pacific for another batch of 30 rebuilds, these are to be numbered 7030–7059. The second batch of SD70ACUs started to arrive in February 2020.

The Canadian Pacific units will feature crew comforts and safety features such as the Progress Rail “Q cab," featuring an AAR control stand, an emergency access door located behind the conductor’s seat, forward and inward facing cameras, an electrically assisted hand brake, and full-length window awnings. Also included are new control electronics, Mitsubishi AC propulsion components, NYAB CCBII electronic air brakes, and positive train control. These units are also equipped with Progress Rail’s EM2000 Control System and FIRE display screens. Each rebuild will weigh 432,000 lbs., have a maximum speed of 65MPH, and be rated at 4500 horsepower. These units will meet Tier 1+ emission standards.

In August 2019, Canadian Pacific received the first four SD70ACUs and subsequently assigned them to coal train service in British Columbia for testing.

On September 16, 2019, Progress Rail rolled out two SD70ACU rebuilds in Canadian Pacific heritage paint schemes, and it was announced that there were to be ten units in total. CP 7010 to 7014 would be painted in the Tuscan red and grey paint scheme with script writing that was used between 1960 and 1968. Units numbered from 7015 to 7019 wear a similar paint scheme with block lettering that was used between 1949 and 1959.

On November 11, 2019, five units with commemorative military themes were released during Canadian Pacific's Remembrance Day Ceremony.

These units are numbered 7020–7023, with 7024 being renumbered to 6644 (for the date 6/6/44) in honor of D-Day.

6644 represents a memorial to World War II, the paint scheme derived from the Allied Spitfire using Royal Air Force Dark Green, Ocean Grey, and accented with Roundel Yellow with a font that is RAF standard to planes used in WWII. It also distinctively sports invasion stripes on the rear hood similar to those applied to Allied aircraft prior to the D-Day landings.

7020 represents the Army in Temperate Regions. It is painted NATO Green and features a modernized Army font. 7021 represents the Army in Arid Regions and is painted in a Desert Sand Color and features a modernized Army font like 7020.

7022 represents the Navy, and is painted Royal Canadian Navy Shipside Grey and Oxide Red and uses the correct naval font.

7023 represents the Air Force, and is painted in the same colors as a CF-18 which uses Light Ghost Grey and Medium Grey as well featuring the correct RCAF font. All five commemorative military units feature Canadian Pacific's unique Support Our Troops logo, as well a Canadian and American flag on opposite sides of the locomotive.

CP 7030 has a Lord Strathcona's Horse regiment shield applied on the nose, like CP 8939, a GE ES44AC.

Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) (LdSH[RC]) 

Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians) (LdSH[RC]) is a regular armoured regiment of the Canadian Army. Currently based in Edmonton, Alberta, the regiment is part of 3rd Canadian Division's 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group. Members of the regiment are commonly called Strathconas or Straths as a short form. It was one of the last regiments in the British Empire to be created and raised by a private individual, Donald Alexander Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal.

The regiment is currently composed of a regimental headquarters and four primary squadrons: A, B, Reconnaissance ('Recce') and Headquarters. In September 2006, B Squadron deployed to Afghanistan using the Leopard C2, the first NATO deployment of main battle tanks (MBTs) to Afghanistan.

Each year the squadron that distinguishes itself with the highest efficiency rating in the regiment earns the title "Prince of Wales Squadron" for the year. The regiment has seven affiliated cadet corps in Alberta and British Columbia.

Lord Strathcona's Horse operates with 40 Leopard 2's (20 A4's, 9 A4M's and 11 2A6M's) and 12 Coyote Reconnaissance Vehicles. Due to a change in Canadian army doctrine in the early 2000s away from heavy armour to more infantry-centred operations, Lord Strathcona's Horse was for several years the only regular armoured regiment to operate MBTs. This was until the 2006 announcement that the Royal Canadian Dragoons would be re-equipped with a squadron of Leopards.

The regimental motto is "Perseverance". The current commanding officer is Lieutenant-Colonel Eric Angell CD and the regimental sergeant major is Chief Warrant Officer K. King MMM, CD. The colonel-in-chief of the regiment is Charles, Prince of Wales, while the honorary colonel of the regiment is Col (Ret'd) Greg Hug.

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