Western Railroad Discussion > Another AC-64 gets ready to head East

On Friday, amtrak was shuttliung another AC-64 # 663 from Scaramento  Shops to Oakland to be put on train #6 on sat.....Here, P42 92-182 are doing the honors, rolling thru Rodeo in mid afternoon....

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Where is this unit headed?  Northeast?

Think about it: 1) It's a traction locomotive. 2) The only electrified trackage Amtrak owns is the NEC. 3) No, it's not bound for export - Amtrak does not market brand new locomotives to foreign carriers. 4) So again, where is it headed............?

No going to New Orleans for the St. Charles line! (seriously ? ? ?)
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> Where is this unit headed?  Northeast?

Posted from Android

djm448 Wrote:
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> Where is this unit headed?  Northeast?

no sarcasm here.  Yes, it is going to work on the NEC between Washington DC and points north.  

What is the top number in the order ?
 

Bill Miller
Galt, ON

CCMF Wrote:
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> What is the top number in the order ?

70 units beginning at No. 600 = 669.

P Wrote:
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> djm448 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Where is this unit headed?  Northeast?
>
> no sarcasm here.  Yes, it is going to work on the
> NEC between Washington DC and points north.  


Thank you.  Some of us are still new to learning the full aspect of railfanning, other than watching a train pass by on the tracks in the neighborhood.

666 is being skipped
CPR_4000 Wrote:
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> CCMF Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > What is the top number in the order ?
>
> 70 units beginning at No. 600 = 669.

I see SEPTA has order 13 or more of these units.  Any guesses if delivery will take place the same way? 

It seems like yesterday #600 rolled off the assembly line, now the order is almost finished.

Congratulations, Siemens and Amtrak, long may they roll.
 

Jim Montague
IRVINE, CA
Train and Nature photo Art

This might be a real stupid question but why in the SO Cal area why could we of not had these types of locos instead of the little electric trains we have on the gold ,red, silver, brown, black and whatever other colors they may come up with.   Thanks for the answer.

tc Wrote:
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> This might be a real stupid question but why in
> the SO Cal area why could we of not had these
> types of locos instead of the little electric
> trains we have on the gold ,red, silver, brown,
> black and whatever other colors they may come up
> with.   Thanks for the answer.

These ACS-64's are designed to pull regular passenger cars (just a flatcar with seats and a roof basically).  This configuration would be extremely difficult to use in a Light Rail environment.  First, space is usually at a premium, having a piece of rolling stock with no seats just takes room.  Second, these are designed to pull long trains of relatively heavy equipment.  Light Rail usually operates with short trains operating on small headways (gap between trains), a long, ACS-64 pulled train would have acclerate and braking distances too great for small headways.  Third, the weight is just too much, Light Rail refers to the total weight of the trains, not the rails themselves.  As for the Heavy Rail subway lines (Red and Purple), the steer size would be too great, the tunnels need to be as small as possible to save on construction costs.