GE Transportation pressing for Amtrak deal

Amtrak crews will be familar with the '46as, becuase they have used the regular '46s before, adn they are pretty much identical. When they were first delievered, Amtrak leased I bleieve it was 5 ALP46s from NJT for the Clocker service. Also, Amtrak crews often take NJT trains from NYP to the yards around NYP and to/from SSYD.

There are plenty of times when various RR's help each other out in loaning equipment, etc, but don't except NJT to let Amtrak '46As on a regular basis.....unless of course, there is a lease drawn up inbetween the two railroads.

As a taxpayer in NJ, I wouldn't be too thrilled if NJT was just "letting" amtrak "borrow" locomotives on a regular basis. If NJT wants to lease them out and make money, thats fine (well that is another issue, but..........). But you can only be a "nice guy" for so long.

For what its worth, I saw a memo when I was in Philly last week in the crew lounge that Amtrak has indeed ordered 20 new locomotives and that the first 4 are suppose to arrive by the end of the year. I asked a road foreman and he said that its the Alp46a's.Of course I never believe anything until I see it, but this was an internal memo so I am not that skeptical at this point. I love the ALP46 and Amtrak originally wanted this locomotive but the mechanical dept didnt want it because of the location of the transformer and the way the machine room is laid out. Since the ALP46a is suppose to be good for 125, this probably shouldnt be a no brainer for Amtrak. Stand By......

TREnecNYP wrote:Ah, ok. Glad they found a use for it. Do crews swap out at NYP?

Yes

BuddSilverliner269 wrote: I love the ALP46 and Amtrak originally wanted this locomotive but the mechanical dept didnt want it because of the location of the transformer and the way the machine room is laid out.

Maybe if Amtrak mechanical can't handle such sophistication they could ship 'em over to Mickey Mouse Club for servicing

Jishnu wrote:

BuddSilverliner269 wrote: I love the ALP46 and Amtrak originally wanted this locomotive but the mechanical dept didnt want it because of the location of the transformer and the way the machine room is laid out.

Maybe if Amtrak mechanical can't handle such sophistication they could ship 'em over to Mickey Mouse Club for servicing

HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHHA

In reality, the loco shop at the MMC is actually pretty decent. Everyone else, well, thats a different story.....

I like the walk way of the '46s. Its nice to have more than a few inches clearance inbetween you and the 6 Megawatt transformer.....not to mention, being able to actually walk down the aisle of the loco! the ALP44s (and AEM7s) have some pretty tight walkways in them..........

Amtrak's mechanical dept is pretty good, the problem is Amtrak cut back on its mechanical forces. The ALP46 is well liked by the crews I work with in the NY crew base. As JT mentioned, Amtrak crews move NJT trains around within Penn Station and take them over to Sunnyside. I personally like getting into them over the HHP8. The cab is alot more roomier.

http://www.progressiverailroading.com/n ... p?id=22333

Infrastructure upgrades, PTC and new rolling stock on Amtrak's 2010 agenda

With major projects and new initiatives on tap to rebuild infrastructure, increase service and revitalize the nation’s intercity passenger railroad, Amtrak is anticipating “an exciting 2010,” President and Chief Executive Officer Joseph Boardman said yesterday during a media conference call.

This year, Amtrak plans to undertake major track and bridge construction projects, replace and expand its locomotive and passenger-car fleets, and advance high-speed rail and positive train control (PTC) initiatives.

Major infrastructure projects include the replacement of the 102-year-old movable bridge over the Niantic River in Connecticut; modernization of transformers and other electrical equipment between Washington, D.C., and New York City; track and switch upgrades at Chicago’s Union Station; and construction of new maintenance buildings for passenger-car equipment in Los Angeles and Hialeah, Fla.

Amtrak also plans to renovate a station in Wilmington, Del.; expand the Auto Train station in Sanford, Fla.; restore locomotives and passenger cars in Beech Grove, Ind., and Bear, Del.; complete a multi-year modernization of catenary wires on the Hell Gate Line in New York; and begin upgrading a Seattle maintenance facility.

In addition, the railroad will advance an “aggressive, self-imposed schedule” to install PTC by the end of 2012 — three years prior to the rail industry’s federally mandated deadline. A “significant amount of design and engineering, and some installation work” will occur this year, said Boardman.

Next month, Amtrak also plans to announce a plan to replace and expand its rolling stock fleet to accommodate anticipated ridership growth. The railroad expects to purchase several hundred single-level and bi-level long-distance cars, and more than 100 locomotives, said Boardman.

nice re-hash but it still does not say anything about GE transportation deal.

When will Amtrak open bids on the 50 aging locomotives and how soon will they want them?

A new Senate version of the jobs bill was just released. Unfortunlaty, it appears that the $800M for new Amtrak locomotives may have been removed. Anybody else see something that I'm missing?

Here's what the New York Times published, which includes a link to a PDF of the bill.

The top Democrat and Republican on the Senate tax-writing committee today unveiled the main elements of a new jobs and economic recovery measure, hoping to put some rare bipartisan momentum behind major legislation.

Senators Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana and chairman of the Finance Committee, and Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, the panel’s senior Republican, released a draft $85 billion plan that would give employers a payroll tax exemption for hiring those who have been unemployed for at least 60 days. The bill would also provide a $1,000 income tax credit for new workers retained for 52 weeks. (A draft of the bill is available here http://www.finance.senate.gov/sitepages/legislation.htm)

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2010 ... jobs-bill/

Nasadowsk wrote:

KV1guy wrote: As much as Id love to see it....I doubt they'd be AC motors. AC motors dont fair as good as DC's in the stop/start life of passnger trains.

Really? Tell that to NJT, or the LIRR or Metro-North. Especially in MU applications, AC clobbers DC hands down. IIRC, the LIRR's doing about 10 times the mean distance between failures with the M-7s than the older cars.

The NYCTA won't order anything but AC now for subway cars, which stop/start many many times more than an Amtrak train.

Extra initial costs too. What good would AC motors be anyways to units that just dont weigh enough to begin with?

Going a million miles between rebuilds? Few (if any) ground faults? Full power at all speeds? Better motor control and protection? Not having to inspect the brushes all the time? No flashovers?

The simple reality is AC beats DC, period. It's only been economics that have held it back, and right now, the economics are catching up - there are no other widespread applications for large DC motors anywhere, other than diesel locomotives in North America (and some legacy mining applications). And by 'anywhere', I mean in the entire electrical industry - you simply don't see new DC motors being used anymore. Today's AC inverters blow DC out of the water, at any power level.

MBTA is ordering 20 12-cylinder GEVO-engined locomotives from MPI (Boise) -- with AC motors.

It should work.

IF and only IF they built it to same dimensions as a Genesis, if they built behemoths like the MP36 or MP40 they would be useless for Amtrak.
This HSP-46ac does seem a promising deal however.

Pacific 2-3-1 wrote:MBTA is ordering 20 12-cylinder GEVO-engined locomotives from MPI (Boise) -- with AC motors.

It should work.

MPI locomotives with GE engines? Do you have a link to a press release? This is the first I've heard of MPI using a non-EMD engine in their commuter locomotives. Not saying you're wrong; just saying this is the first I've heard of it.

Read MBTA forum or check Railpace
The official release did not specify:
http://www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/news ... nth=&year=

but:
http://utahrails.net/uta/frontrunner.php

Interesting.

At some point I would expect GE to put out a press release if this is true. They're not shy about promoting themselves. This would be big news because it would be the first GEVO-based passenger locomotive in the U.S., and it would be the first time MBTA has chosen a non-EMD-based mainline passenger locomotive.