F59PHI’s

[Tadman]

Any word on the state of these? I have had a few times out in Washington where the F59 crapped out due to age and deferred maintenance. I'm curious if Metra has done anything to them to avoid problems. If BNSF gets frustrated out there by a few stalled Cascades, imagine what a crapped out F59 does here at rush hour... bad news. Nobody seems to be addressing this issue.

Doubtful BNSF will get any of the F59PHI’s. They would need cab signals. From all indications, they’ll work only the Milwaukee, HC, and NCS.

I've heard that, too. It appears neither CNW, Rock, or BN will get these on account of cab signal needs. That doesn't change the fact that CP or CN would hit the roof, not to mention the ten commuter trains following, if an F59 craps out at Rondout or Lemont.

[F40CFan]

We lived through the MP36s, we'll survive the F59s.

[eolesen]

Dumb question, but if they have PTC, would they require cab signals to run outside Metra owned trackage?

Granted, there's no advanced fallback system, but block signalling is an acceptable option when you don't have working PTC.

Do the F59's and MP36's provide enough of a pool to take the remaining 24 or so F40's that have been on the Metra operated lines and push them over to BNSF and UP?

[MetraBNSF]

455, in Amtrak livery is at Western Ave, facing east.

84 is also at Western Ave, facing west.

[MetraBNSF]

Do the F59's and MP36's provide enough of a pool to take the remaining 24 or so F40's that have been on the Metra operated lines and push them over to BNSF and UP?

I would suspect some of the oldest F40’s will wind up being retired. Even if the oldest F40’s are retired I’d still think the F59’s will provide at least some spare power but restricted to MILW/HC/NCS.

It’s been quite a while since a locomotive assignment post has been done. If only dealing with the F40’s, 100-125 are split up amongst the BNSF/SWS/MILW/NCS and maybe HC. 126-178 are predominantly UP. 179-214, a mix of F40PH-3, F40PHM-2 and -3 are primarily BNSF and RI. BNSF is also carrying more of the lower numbered F40’s while the Winnebagos are being rebuilt.

[NorthWest]

I wouldn't worry too much about long-term reliability. The Cascades units did a lot better once they were rehabbed a few months ago and some of the deferred maintenance was corrected (and I think a lot of what they suffered was a lack of heavy maintenance facilities on the West Coast other than LA). If they get adequate shop time, they'll be fine. The Surfliner ones always have been.

(Saw 459 today, so there's at least one still active for Amtrak).

[doepack]

Dumb question, but if they have PTC, would they require cab signals to run outside Metra owned trackage?

Granted, there's no advanced fallback system, but block signalling is an acceptable option when you don't have working PTC.

As more F59PHI's enter service, any F40PH's that shuffle over to UP from other lines will need ATC. PTC is the primary system in use, but crews will switch to ATC as a backup in case of PTC failure, after receiving dispatcher permission. Speaking of which, recent radio chatter has revealed a lot of PTC teething problems on both freight and commuter service leading to no shortage of crew frustration.

As if they don't deal with enough already...

It’s been quite a while since a locomotive assignment post has been done. If only dealing with the F40’s, 100-125 are split up amongst the BNSF/SWS/MILW/NCS and maybe HC. 126-178 are predominantly UP. 179-214, a mix of F40PH-3, F40PHM-2 and -3 are primarily BNSF and RI. BNSF is also carrying more of the lower numbered F40’s while the Winnebagos are being rebuilt.

Since there's only one model running on the UP lines, they seem to be the only district that has a solid block of units assigned there. With the Winnebagos going to/from rebuild and the used F59PHI's coming online, the locomotive assignments elsewhere is likely to remain unstable and in flux for a while yet.

It may even start to resemble the way CTA assigns the remaining 2600's, which are currently smeared over Brown, Blue, and Orange in no particular order; there's no logical blocked groupings in the way the cars are allocated. That would make it almost impossible to keep up with...

[eolesen]

As more F59PHI's enter service, any F40PH's that shuffle over to UP from other lines will need ATC. PTC is the primary system in use, but crews will switch to ATC as a backup in case of PTC failure, after receiving dispatcher permission.

Don't forget ATS... One possible advantage is that I'm guessing non-ATS units would be able to lead as long as PTC is operating.

Side note: I'm surprised UP hasn't taken steps to replace ATS along with the PTC upgrades... or maybe they can take that on after PTC is stable.

[busfan2847]

Do the F59's and MP36's provide enough of a pool to take the remaining 24 or so F40's that have been on the Metra operated lines and push them over to BNSF and UP?

I would suspect some of the oldest F40’s will wind up being retired. Even if the oldest F40’s are retired I’d still think the F59’s will provide at least some spare power but restricted to MILW/HC/NCS.

It’s been quite a while since a locomotive assignment post has been done. If only dealing with the F40’s, 100-125 are split up amongst the BNSF/SWS/MILW/NCS and maybe HC. 126-178 are predominantly UP. 179-214, a mix of F40PH-3, F40PHM-2 and -3 are primarily BNSF and RI. BNSF is also carrying more of the lower numbered F40’s while the Winnebagos are being rebuilt.

150-173 allocated to UP lines are the only F40PH-2s not rebuilt to F40PH-3s. They were all new in 1983. These are the locomotives that need to be replaced either directly, or indirectly, by the 21 F59PHI (73-93) plus the other 3 F59PH (94-96) recently purchased. 100-149, 174-184 with 215-217 are all F40PH-3.

[MACTRAXX]

Everyone:

Metra posted a YouTube video showing the full repainting of F59PHI #91 from its original Amtrak
Cascades color scheme to what looks to be a Metra variation of the Pacific Surfliner scheme.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCaMAq4pKzs" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The six F59PHI units that were placed into service initially all were in Pacific Surfliner colors
with Metra lettering and numbers added am I correct?

Does anyone have a "scorecard" of the original Amtrak numbers and new Metra numbers and
which their previous color scheme or service was?

MACTRAXX

[F40CFan]

They should adopt that paint scheme, it looks a heck of a lot better than the current standard. It would probably look better on the other locomotives as well.

[Allouette]

Don't forget ATS... One possible advantage is that I'm guessing non-ATS units would be able to lead as long as PTC is operating.

PTC is only an overlay on other signal systems (ATC, ATS, Cab signals) and does not replace them. Engines operating in territories so equipped are still required to have appropriate equipment.

[MetraBNSF]

Saw 84 in service this evening in West Loop. Not sure if it was an equipment move or a revenue train heading in to CUS.

[Tadman]

I've heard that the F59PHIs were "quickie" repainted. I'm not sure how quick it is if the whole thing is repainted. Thoughts?

They should adopt that paint scheme, it looks a heck of a lot better than the current standard. It would probably look better on the other locomotives as well.

Totally agree. The new (new since the MP36) blue-white fade with black top and orange/maroon/orange stripe is way too busy and not great. It looks even worse on bilevels. For an agency that is utterly broke, I'm having a hard time justifying all the complex masking that must be required for these paint jobs. Blue dip makes a lot of sense when there's no money. It's an established trend to do monotone when the money is short.

[F40CFan]

I've heard that the F59PHIs were "quickie" repainted. I'm not sure how quick it is if the whole thing is repainted. Thoughts?.

Maybe they mean that its quick because there are using the simpler paint scheme. Not so much masking with a simple design(?).