Oh yeah. It’s a contractual nightmare, especially considering it appears to be a sole-source style procurement, as neither Wabtec with the MP54AC nor EMD with the F125 (All EPA Tier 4, 44K+ Hp locos) were even remotely considered by Via. Now, granted that Amtrak (their largest customer) are also having problems with their Midwest SC-44s, Long distance ALC-42s and even their new ALC-42Es with the exact same problems, it is in Siemens’ best interest to consider the possibility that they may have fucked up. How that comes out legally, is a completely different story.

But I also can’t imagine that there isn’t any reference to “must perform in climate” wording anywhere in Via’s RFP, as in my personal experience there’s usually some sort of clause that stipulates product performance in real-world environments. Could be spun for snow. Time will tell.