AM, you aren't thinking like a train crew member, I know the "simple switch" would have more behind it, but thats what you guys are for, to make that happen - but in the end, a simple switch that could be flipped on or off and that switch would make all the "magic" happen. A simple switch that was for HEP from loco or HEP from diesel HEP unit....yes, it would need to be that easy. How it happens, I don't know, and I don't care, I just need to happen. It wasn't more complicated than that with the ACES power change from Electric to Diesel - it was just a few switches, just they had to be done in a certain order
I understand that most yards have wayside power. However, I also understand that most times, things don't happen near wayside power plugs. As much as one might think Amtrak and commuter operations are different, they really aren't. I know what its like to be broken down somewhere with no HEP, or no power from a dead loco, or luckily (like what happened last year in the blizzard when the MN train got snowbound on the Southern Tier) having a Geep with a seperate HEP motor which continues to run, even if the prime mover blew itself to bits.
Hudson yard doesn't have wayside power, Barracks Yard doesn't have wayside power, the list goes on and on. Sure, here on the NEC help isn't that far away (relatively) but not all times can help actually make it - 4 tracks blocked by downed wires. It happens, not often, but it happens...I remember the double stack taking out the wire at the BandO bridge in Linden in 2002. I think that took out 5 of 6 tracks. I also remember trains sitting in Rahway and that area for upwards of 8 hours in 2003 when an Acela yanked down wire at Menlo. Rescue diesels simply couldn't go anywhere because of the sheer number of trains parked and blocking all the tracks.
Also, there are places elsewhere in the country where like mentioned above, the only thing around for miles is a freight loco. Say you have 2 P42s, on a train - one provides HEP better than the other, while the other provides traction power better than the other one. Thats those trains where two locos = one loco! Which loco is gonna die first? Well, if the loco that has the working HEP dies, you can use the HEP diesel set to provide at least some 480 power to the cars, but still have traction from the other loco. If its the other one (traction), well, then your SOL, but you can wait til the rescue diesel arrives under the comfort of HEP from the other diesel that dont' like to move on its own. And im SURE this happens on Amtrak too, maybe not all the time, but seeing all those doubleheaded AEM7s on the NEC makes me wonder....
I still think Amtrak should look into using HEP motors for powering the entire train on a regular basis, I think the fuel savings would be significant, but im glad to see that they are at least thinking about these HEP motors for emergencies, which is a good start. So what if a train doesn't have a baggage car now? Maybe if this is successful it would require more cars to be built/converted and each train would be required to have one. How can that be a bad thing? And if folks are worried about "one more car" being added to a train and doing the diesel in, then those trains should be the FIRST to get these emergency generators, as obviously the locos need some help.....