The ALP44s have seen better days. Some are more reliable than others, but as a whole, they are worn out. NJT has seen a marked DECREASE in mechanical failures since the '44s were pulled from service. Thats expected as they are being replaced with new locomotives, but they had their day in the sun, and seem to be enjoying retirement sitting up in Port Morris Yard.
The thing that people don't understand is how much NJT uses their equipment. The locos might not be that old, (some were built new in 1996/97) but even the youngest loco has im sure at least a million miles (as some of the ALP46s, new from 2002 are getting around the 3/4 million mile mark now), while the older ones probably have close to if not more than 2 million. they were run hard up until the end when they were pulled from service. And while those mileage stats might not seem THAT high compared to say the Amtrak AEM7s going back and forth on the NEC all day, i would guesstimate the mileage is probably about a 1:2 comparison of start stops with the amount of stops on a local, stop signals, and various other reasons a train might stop in route on a trip. So if it has 1.5 million miles, that means probably somewhere around 750,000 start stops. The AEM7s would have much higher mileage compared to start stops for an equivalant mileage.
NJT claimed that the '44s didn't work reliably with the Multilevels and that they were a load on HEP. How true or not that claim is, i guess could be debated. But they did run 6 car ML sets with a '44 in revenue service for a little while, as well as the ACES train ran 4 cars as well as providing power for the P40 that was trailing. I ran a test train of a 9 car ML set (and a trailing, not powered '46 to count as another car as well as a full passenger load for all the cars) with a single '44 powering it and while it moved, there was NO way it would keep schedule or anywhere close to it. It took 7 miles to get up to 90mph from a stop, and experienced near constant wheel slip. The '44s could handle 10 comet (single level) cars but that was slow, but it would just barely be able to keep schedule. No matter how hard you ran it, you weren't going to make up any time and a rainy day, you were loosing time quickly...
Im sure another operator could wring a few more years out of some of them, especially if they were put in less demanding service, like shorter trains and express trains, but those kind of restrictions didn't work for NJT and the way it runs and operates its equipment, as well as the cost for a rebuild would have been way up there, not that far off from a new loco. Not to mention, you NEED to have reliable equipment to deal with the North River tunnels. I remember a few times sitting there at A interlocking stopped on the hill in the tunnel hoping the '44 would 'start back up' as it would power down when sitting a while. It would sound like a tired old Chevy with a dying battery when it would kick back on....
Maybe they will work for MARC, maybe they will work for Septa. They do have some life left in them, as I said they were run in demanding daily service til they were pulled. Also, NJT has a very capable shop and the units were well maintained. I wouldn't say its quite Wilmington, but its no slouch either. They can take and replace/rebuild any part of any loco in the fleet.
Also, as a side note, Amtrak borrowed some over the past year for work trains as well, and as far as I know, had no issues with them.
On the RR, "believe nothing you hear and only half of what you see"
John, aka "JTGSHU" passed away on August 26, 2013. We honor his memory and his devotion to railroading at railroad.net.
