Amtrak/Ferromex F40PHR 241 (IANR 678)

Hello everyone;

I am once again asking for your help for an important episode of my locomotive documentary series, Remarkable Engines. This episode will be focusing on Amtrak F40PHR 241, which later became Ferromex 241 and then Iowa Northern 678. Based on what I gathered so far, the F40 was transported to the Alaska Railroad in 2002, was then purchased by the American Orient Express along with a few other F40s, and was given Ferromex stencils/logo while on the American Orient Express and while being transported in (I believe) a UP freight northward, possibly to the Northwest (Seattle based on this photo) in 2005, before being given to IANR and repainted.

Is there any additional information about this locomotive that would help this case? Why was 241 in Alaska? Why did it receive Ferromex logos/stencils? Was this only for AOE operations in Mexico? Thanks.

Does anyone have information about this locomotive, or if it was mentioned in another topic on the site? I´m assuming it might have been since it was a somewhat recent event, occurring while the current railroad.net forums were still active.

ANYONE?!

I have to upload a video regarding this locomotive within the next few days, so any information about this locomotive would be greatly appreciated.

Shouldn't you do your research before setting deadlines for finishing?...

Nobody will care or even notice if you don't upload a video within the next few days.

Sent from my SM-G981U using Tapatalk

Search the serial number on this site, read the captions, see what comes up. Can’t help otherwise.

To the two users who replied on this topic:

I researched as much as I could on this locomotive and was waiting for someone else to voice part of the script, but that person declined the offer and I'm still drawing a blank as to how and why 241 went to Alaska, as well as why it was in Seattle and Mexico and had Ferromex lettering. I even tried trainorders.com and they just mentioned it being on a freight move and that it might have been added to represent AOE's trains in that country of if it was leased to Ferromex itself for some of their excursions.

This is the only other topic on railroad.net I could find about this locomotive.

viewtopic.php?f=46&t=20884&p=203937&hil ... 40#p203937

It likely went to Alaska on a barge. That's how they move cars back and forth....

Why? Because it was a locomotive with working HEP, which is the same reason that AOE or Ferromex would have wanted to lease it, even if it was only for HEP.

Nothing remotely interesting about any of that. It happens all the time with lease power.

It’s less the lease that’s interesting, more the subject locomotive.

It’s also worth noting that while in Alaska, 241 still bore Amtrak reporting marks. Amtrak is & has been very diligent to deface its livery on equipment it sells, so that strikes me as an interagency loan of sorts.

There were a couple F40PHR units that were leased to the ARR between Summer 2001 and Summer 2003 while the ARR 3000 series locomotives were undergoing rebuilds.

F40PHR's 241, 245, 315 and 320 all went north by barge from Seattle to Whittier in June 2001. They were all still owned by Amtrak thus still marked as Amtrak.

Railworld acquired the Amtrak leasing business in early 2002, presumably including the four locomotives on lease to ARR. Since they were off the Amtrak property at the time, changing the markings was probably a low priority, and since they weren't being interchanged, marking them up as Railworld probably wasn't an issue. Nobody was entering these into UMLER...

The SD70MAC-HEP's arrived in May 2004, so I'm guessing the F40's came back south to Seattle once the SD70's started arriving on the property.


(I figured all this out with about 30 minutes of surfing Google. It's not rocket science to do a little research...)

Admin note

Moved to the EMD forum.

Thank you everyone for the responses. One of the main reasons of why I´m focusing on this locomotive is that it was given Ferromex lettering while on American Orient Express in 2005. I heard that it was used for both the AOE and Ferromex´s El Chepe. Am I missing anything else regarding this portion of the engine´s life?

Thank you everyone for the responses on this topic. Here is the video I made regarding this locomotive for Remarkable Engines. (Just in time for F40PH Friday. )

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rg1yg7Rxx8