Passenger Trains > Amtrak's Oddball leaders

With a ex-ATSF SD40-2 leading Amtrak #4 yesterday, it reminds me of other great locomotives pinch hitting on the point of Amtrak Trains. Photos like a pair of SP units leading #11 south at Albany, OR in 1995, or a BNSF SD40-2 on a late #7 at King St Station in Seattle, WA. Or my best ever, UP Katy Heritage unit on the Cascades trainset at Centralia, WA.  Feel free to post your own oddball leaders.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/18 02:56 by funnelfan.

---

---

---

Great idea for a topic, Ted. Here are a couple of my “oddball Amtrak leaders”
 
Dick Ebright
Roosevelt, Utah
 

1. UP 8072 leading #6 at Price, Utah; December 15, 2009.
2. BNSF 716 leading #8 at Dakota, Minnesota; December 29, 2009.

---

---

Fun idea! I officially pronounce the MKT unit leading the Cascade as my odds-on favourite.

utwazoo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Nice photos and here I thought you would be
> talking about Anderson & Co.

Had to ruin the thread, didn't you...

Picture No. 5 is great.  That engine looks natural pulling varnish.  Thanks for posting.

Randy Lundgren
Elgin, TX

Leaving Ogden, UT in June 1980...#6 San Fran. Zephyr has a Fast Forty on the point...Check out all the boxcars in this pic...Stevie



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/08/18 12:36 by the_expediter.

---

From the "SDP40F Banned" era. Portland OR 4-77.

TJY

---

June 1980 in Ogden...Actually this wasn't too unusual back then to add a unit to S.F. Zephyr to help it east...Stevie

---

Wonder if the UP engines protected CCS requirements east of Ogden? UP had finicky leader requirements due to cab signals.

- SP 7551 on #6 at Martinez, CA, 1985

- SP 7399 on the Reno Fun Train at Truckee, CA, 1982

- AT&SF 2722 on #711 (San Joaquin) at Martinez, CA. 30+ years later I met the engineer on this train.

Jim B

---

---

---

How does an Amtrak train leave its originating terminal with a freight locomotive at the point - for a 2,200+ mile journey ahead?

I know Chicago has its issues, but Seattle seems to be other hidden West Coast problem child at times.

- bad ordering the baggage car last minute - had to use the Superliner Trans Dorm as the baggage car and then the coach/baggage from the Portland consist after combined. 
- bad ordering the diner car last as the train was to depart (and train sat in yard all day) . New staff found an electrical issue last minute, despite it being written up by the crew that had brought the train in as #7 earlier that day. Luckily a spare diner was in the yard that could be used.
- releasing a Superliner sleeper with no A/C on the end of the train with sleeper  (bedroom) accommodations,. Seattle was already high 80s temps, and across Montana it was to be in the 90s. After the station agent came out to meet the train for its bon voyage I did convince him to get small fans placed on the train at Edmonds. He was then trying to convince passengers that either the A/C would be fixed at Spokane (um, no!), or we could be re-accommodated in the Portland sleeper (um, again nice try, but that train was leaving Portland also, with a full sleeper by the time it left Pasco, WA). The fans at least made it manageable and did get some of the cool air circulated from the roomettes to the bedrooms (or other half of the car). But again, this "maintenance" issue had been written up on inbound #7, and ignored by staff in Seattle. The train actually arrived an hour early that morning, so there could have been some time to try and rectify. 

 

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> utwazoo Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Nice photos and here I thought you would be
> > talking about Anderson & Co.
>
> Had to ruin the thread, didn't you...

Ever heard of sense of humor?   Something sorely needed these days.

Love those pics Jim B! I've actually have ran the SP 7557, SP 7558 and the ATSF 2422 in their later lives. The ATSF GP30 even has a K5LA horn which always makes me think of Amtrak!

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

yes i have caught many a freight unit pulling amtrak
 

jp1822 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How does an Amtrak train leave its originating
> terminal with a freight locomotive at the point -
> for a 2,200+ mile journey ahead?
>

​Are you referring to one of the pictures or just asking a rhetorical question?  The only picture in Seattle is of #7 arriving from the east with a freight unit.

czephyr17 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> jp1822 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > How does an Amtrak train leave its originating
> > terminal with a freight locomotive at the point
> -
> > for a 2,200+ mile journey ahead?
> >
>
> ​Are you referring to one of the pictures or
> just asking a rhetorical question?  The only
> picture in Seattle is of #7 arriving from the east
> with a freight unit.

Whoops - sorry I thought it was #8, not #7. Nonetheless, I do believe that I've seen a BNSF leader on #8 heading out of Seattle though!