Eastern Railroad Discussion > Amtrak 42 headed east late with NS power

I posted this in the passenger forum, but thought it might be useful here, too.

Heads up: Amtrak #42 departed Pittsburgh around 9:05AM with NS 4727 on the head end. 4727 rolled by westbound light sometime around 7:30. I didn't have my radio today so the issue with the Amtrak unit is unknown. NS 4727 is sporting green "swoosh" environment friendly paint scheme.

Jonathan

Posted from Android

Just now passing Cresson - that's late and then some!

What's up with all of the late running Amtrak trains? equipment issues or the host railroad...

EL-SD45-3632 Wrote:
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> What's up with all of the late running Amtrak
> trains? equipment issues or the host railroad...

For this one, it would appear to be an equipment issue.

** I should, while I'm at it, ask the next question, in case anyone knows: will it stay on past Harrisburg? **

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/21/16 10:34 by reel_smooth.

Cab signal failure on Amtrak engine 88.  The NS unit will come off in Harrisburg on arrival and the Amtrak protect diesel will be added ahead.

cr2581 Wrote:
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> Cab signal failure on Amtrak engine 88.  The NS
> unit will come off in Harrisburg on arrival and
> the Amtrak protect diesel will be added ahead.

Thanks.

is this one of the units converted to ASCES equipment compatibility?
 

cr2581 Wrote:
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> Cab signal failure on Amtrak engine 88.  The NS
> unit will come off in Harrisburg on arrival and
> the Amtrak protect diesel will be added ahead.

Thank you. Would have loved to have seen it go to Philly, but, it is what it is.

Lewis. 2:10

Posted from Android

At the time, I wondered if it had something to do with the signal crew at CP BLOOM, but when I saw the NS unit on the head end, I figured that wasn't the issue. Thanks for the updates on what happened. I love this place. 

Here are a few photos, for those who might be interested...

#1 NS 4727, a GP35ECO, rolls toward Pennsylvania Station around 7:30AM.
#2 The Pennsylvanian, #42, finally departs Pittsburgh almost two hours late.
#3 The Pennsylvanian rounding the curve through CP Bloom.

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Well that's pretty neat!  There's a first time for everything!

Why was 2 hours if the NS engine arrive at Pittsburgh Station at 7:30 A.M.? What was they doing at station for 2 hours?? Amtrak Crew or NS Crew Today.

railcity Wrote:
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> Why was 2 hours if the NS engine arrive at
> Pittsburgh Station at 7:30 A.M.? What was they
> doing at station for 2 hours?? (snip)

I heard they were waiting for a VIP.

I wonder if in these cases does the Amtrak engineer run the engine alone or does an NS engineer go along? Maybe the time was used for the NS engineer to instruct the Amtrak engineer on how to run the engine! LOL

Posted from Android

The reason for the delay was because the 4727 is not approved to run on the NEC, so many phone calls and negotiations between Amtrak and NS ensued. The end result was they let the 4727 on the train and 42 was only allowed into State Interlocking after receiving a Form D authorizing an unauthorized locomotive into the station.

Jon

Train was EB past Exton PA with two Amtrak engines in front around 6PM+/-. That's more than 2 hours late.

(corrected to say EB)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/22/16 05:54 by RRTom.

RRTom Wrote:
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> Train was EB past Exton PA with two Amtrak engines
> in front around 6PM+/-. That's more than 2 hours
> late.
>
> (corrected to say EB)

Sprinter and P unit or 2 P units ???

2 P units