Passenger Trains > One Day You'll Miss Me

"One Day You'll Miss Me" says the 52/129 P42 lash-up leading #1 this evening through Sugar Land, TX at 1938,
10 minutes after sunset.

The P42's have never received any love from the railfan community, first because they're "hideous", and 
then because they were ubiquitous. None of that has ever mattered to me, I'll photograph them every time
I get a chance.

As you all know, Chargers will be taking over the LD routes soon, and like clockwork, many railfans will be
crying that they didn't shoot the P42's when they could. I will not be among them.

Robert Pierce
Sugar Land, TX
SWRails.com

---

The thing I will miss most about the P42DC's is the sound.  The F40PH's they replaced were characterized by the incessant, characterless roar of one unit providing HEP.  On a train with more than one unit, the prime movers on the units not providing HEP theoretically spooled up and down like a normal EMD, but any sound they made was effectively drowned-out by the HEP-providing F40.  I never managed to get a recording of an F40-powered passenger train that had any noticeable thottle-up sound.  The P42's make HEP off the prime mover as well, but when THEY pull away from the station, you know it!  The chugging exhaust of the unit making HEP gets louder and sharper, and you can actually hear other units in the consist responding as well.  The Chargers don't roar as they make HEP, but they also don't sound like much when they accelerate.  Like you, I won't turn up my nose and refuse to photograph the SC44's when they arrive, but I will miss the auditory experience of the P42's.

I was one of those who thought Amtrak's Genesis locomotives were really ugly when they were introduced in 1993.  However, over time, I began to appreciate them and even bought an HO scale model of 156 (Phase I Heritage scheme).  I really do enjoy listening to them and sometimes have opted for in the first car behind the locomotive when riding the Pennsylvanian to take in the chug-chug sound.

I will miss them when they're gone, but have taken and will continue to take photos of them on the Capitol Limited and Pennsylvanian every chance I get.

Thanks, Robert, for posting your wonderful photo and starting this thread.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/19 21:32 by RuleG.

The noisiest versions are those MN P32’s that thrash up and down the Hudson Valley.

I’m going up at the end of the month to buy a Poughkeepsie - GC weekly ticket and fill my boots with sound and mileage off the beasts. (Plus visit some lovely Hudson Valley breweries).

I started off today’s moves on Charger 2118. The most snipped engine I’ve ever travelled behind. P42’s 39+147 around the Tehachapi loop have livened things up however!!

Englishman in America.

Posted from iPhone

I used to poke my head out a door window when the STARLIGHT was climbing the Cascades--great sound under load.

I hated their look when they came out--they are ugly--but I give GE credit for building what has been a very reliable locomotive for AMTRAK.  I'm honestly surprised that AMTRAK didn't go back to GE for replacements.

I'm already hearing horror stories about the CHARGERS and the fact that even spare parts for them are harder to get (???).  If so, AMTRAK made a questionable choice.  And we'll see how that open grate "X" box along the body side does in driving snow........just think about that while crossing Kansas on a cold night, and you need the engines to keep working, with no snow blowing into the body to affect electricals...........

They were nothing but trouble from the day they got them with computer problems, incessantly required rebooting. 

My last trip behind an F40 was an Empire Builder in 2001 with 3 units: 2 Genesis and an F40 in the middle. One of the Genesis conked out before Milwaukee. They gave up on it, left it offline, and the train proceeded with 2 working units. I was glad to get off at Wisconsin Dells.

The sooner they are gone, the better, not that I am any great expectations of the Chargers, especially with their screened side porch collecting snow. 

coach Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> I hated their look when they came out--they are
> ugly--but I give GE credit for building what has
> been a very reliable locomotive for AMTRAK.  I'm
> honestly surprised that AMTRAK didn't go back to
> GE for replacements.

Which GE passenger locomotive would be a suitable replacement for Amtrak?

I've always liked the shape of the P40/P42's.  The problem I have with them is the stupid Phase V paint scheme they've been in for most of their lives.  They looked great in Phase III and IV.

- Chris

Christopher Slemp
South Hadley, MA
Milepost 15

"Those were the days, My friend,
We thought they'd never end"

cslemp Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I've always liked the shape of the P40/P42's. 
> The problem I have with them is the stupid Phase V
> paint scheme they've been in for most of their
> lives.  They looked great in Phase III and IV.
>
> - Chris

I always viewed them as similar to the slab sided Cadillac sedan models.  Very muscular, sleek looking

If Amtrak hadn't prematurely destroyed the wheel sets on the P42 models, and cannibalized the stored P40s, I wonder if the motiv power situation would have turned out differently?

One thing I remember back in 94 was an engineer that ran 1 and 2 when they went to Miami calling those P40s Turtles because of their slow acceleration, and this was after Amtrak put just 1 unit on 1 and 2 East of New Orleans, I didn't mind them myself, but when those Chargers show up, watch the Maintenance issues still be an issue with those units because it was the same claim with the P40s, F40s gone, no issues, yeah right!