Amtrak HHP-8 Discussion: Use, Reliability, Disposition

[Robert Paniagua]

I feel the MBTA Should receive a few of those Amtrak HHP *s for the Providence Line, They are still almost 2 decades old but work good

[gokeefe]

"work good" is debatable at best in their present state as has been made clear by other members ...

[8th Notch]

I feel the MBTA Should receive a few of those Amtrak HHP *s for the Providence Line, They are still almost 2 decades old but work good

If they “worked good” in the first place, Amtrak wouldn’t have been so quick to pull the plug on them. Not to mention Marc almost dumped them in favor of diesels.

[Robert Paniagua]

Yeah hopefully the HHP8 will be rebuilt by the MBTA if they want to acquire them for their use on the mainline

[STrRedWolf]

Not a bad theory, if PMCC has an ear that close to the industry. MARC also wins if/when PMCC dumps these units back onto the market, because who would buy them without upgrades? MBTA would try them on lease and then dump them as junk. Even if the HHPs still don’t run right, Maryland could have a fleet of parts units for pennies on the dollar.

No one else would win out here, even parts suppliers - I highly doubt that any company could custom-make the equipment needed without taking a financial bath from Amtrak change orders and rejections.

Ultimately I suspect PMCC and Amtrak resolve the lease issues on terms more favorable to Amtrak, and the Hippos get scrapped where they sit.

Parts, maybe. MBTA swinging a deal with Bombardier to get refurb'ed HHP-8's, MARC style? Maybe. Full-on scrappage? Maybe.

I like the idea of PMCC and Amtrak agree to terminate the lease, give Amtrak ownership, leaving them to scrap or part out the hippos.

[gokeefe]

Lease buyout would seem like an outcome that Phillip Morris would be happy with.

[rcthompson04]

Lease buyout would seem like an outcome that Phillip Morris would be happy with.

Yea PMCC doesn’t want these things returned (just like anyone who leases specialized equipment with few takers on the secondary market). If PMCC gets 1/3 of what it is demanding it is making out.

[Tadman]

Here's an interesting question:

Assuming the Acela power car and HHP are very similar, and assuming Avelia shows up on time and Acela-1 is promptly retired, could Amtrak part out their owned-Acela fleet and use those parts to make the leased HHP units operable again?

We're also assuming the Acela motors are going to scrap, which seems to be likely.

[STrRedWolf]

Here's an interesting question:

Assuming the Acela power car and HHP are very similar, and assuming Avelia shows up on time and Acela-1 is promptly retired, could Amtrak part out their owned-Acela fleet and use those parts to make the leased HHP units operable again?

We're also assuming the Acela motors are going to scrap, which seems to be likely.

Depends on the litigation.

[Backshophoss]

The Acela I's will wind up stored for at least 2-3 years as sems to what Amtrak does before the "surplus"sale/scrapping.
Not so sure MBTA want any motors,the Hippo's under Amtrak have a checkered service history at best,depending on the weather.

[ApproachMedium]

The worst thing a cold weather state could do is take locomotives that spend snow storms indoors thawing out.

[rcthompson04]

Here's an interesting question:

Assuming the Acela power car and HHP are very similar, and assuming Avelia shows up on time and Acela-1 is promptly retired, could Amtrak part out their owned-Acela fleet and use those parts to make the leased HHP units operable again?

We're also assuming the Acela motors are going to scrap, which seems to be likely.

Depends on the litigation.

Unless the parts are interchangeable, using them as such would likely violate the lease as well.

[Tadman]

The assumption I was making was that the parts were mostly interchangeable and the purpose of such work was to make the HHP ready for use per terms of the lease, not actually to use it for revenue service of any note. Sort of a get-out-of-jail card.

[BandA]

So Amtrak is required to repair the HHPs, but there are no spare parts available at any cost. (Amtrak hasn't ordered any spare parts in a while since they have been cannibalizing and storing them, so nobody is going to make make the parts that aren't ordered). So I guess they have to reassemble the locomotives with the defective parts, and add up the labor to replace the parts and the cost of the parts when they were last available, or the price of a comparable part on other locomotives. I don't know what Phillip Morris is smoking, but I would think an early buyout offer for cash might be better for them and save reassembly cost.

[Backshophoss]

By now most of the electronics are 0bsolete-now longer made,BBD cannot support them now,the MARC motors have
outside contractor remanufacture them with different parts. Cost effective-UNKNOWN.

Acela I power cars are in the same boat parts wise.