Passenger Trains > Amtrak's Chargers

At first glance I thought I might not care for these new(er) motors but they are starting to have their appeal.

Amtrak 300 - Donehower MN
Amtrak 300 - La Crosse
Amtrak 301 - Dakota MN

There's more.......
 

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Amtrak 301 - Dakota MN
Amtrak 302 - Dakota MN
Amtrak 302 - Dakota MN

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Amtrak 303 - Donehower MN
Amtrak 303 - Donehower MN
Amtrak 303 - Dresbach MN

That's all folks!

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Well, it reminds me of an old joke.

Q: "How's your wife?"

A: "Well, compared to what??"   

Compared to the P42's it may be an improvement, from the time I first saw them at Erie, I thought they were ugly, and it hasn't changed.

But right now, the Chargers seem to be in push-pull mode; you can either push them or pull them but you better have help pretty close.

randgust Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Well, it reminds me of an old joke.
>
> Q: "How's your wife?"
>
> A: "Well, compared to what??"   
>
> Compared to the P42's it may be an improvement,
> from the time I first saw them at Erie, I thought
> they were ugly, and it hasn't changed.
>
> But right now, the Chargers seem to be in
> push-pull mode; you can either push them or pull
> them but you better have help pretty close.


They seem to be doing fine in recent weeks. Haven't seen any complaints about them here on Trainorders in a while.

Hope I just didn't jinx it though...

Is the third unit off line in idle?

Great Look  at those Chargers rolling thru  our neck of the woods.  Very nice.

Pat

I never thought anything would make a Genesis unit look good, then came the HSP46 and Chargers. This new stuff is hideous looking junk.

ST214 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I never thought anything would make a Genesis unit
> look good, then came the HSP46 and Chargers. This
> new stuff is hideous looking junk.

Indeed it is hideous.
It looks like the engineer has a very restricted field of vision.
Is that the case?

I like 'em!  Much better looking than the first gen stealth faceted design of the P40/P42 imo!  :)

Give me a Genesis all day long. Least they sound good. Travelled on 4602 to Galesburg last week and I get more sound out of my pressure washer.

The English like their locos to make a noise.

Posted from iPhone

Very NICE look at the Chargers, but haven't started liking them yet, they are a bit odd looking.

Larry

DevalDragon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> randgust Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Well, it reminds me of an old joke.
> >
> > Q: "How's your wife?"
> >
> > A: "Well, compared to what??"   
> >
> > Compared to the P42's it may be an improvement,
> > from the time I first saw them at Erie, I
> thought
> > they were ugly, and it hasn't changed.
> >
> > But right now, the Chargers seem to be in
> > push-pull mode; you can either push them or
> pull
> > them but you better have help pretty close.
>
>
> They seem to be doing fine in recent weeks.
> Haven't seen any complaints about them here on
> Trainorders in a while.
>
> Hope I just didn't jinx it though...

Uh it's May, temps are pretty warm this time of year, wait until next winter!

I envy your location on the Empire Builder's route with all those Kraut locos, I just don't envy the weather on that route!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/14/22 02:00 by RRBMail.

ST214 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I never thought anything would make a Genesis unit
> look good, then came the HSP46 and Chargers. This
> new stuff is hideous looking junk.

I've never understood the shower of abuse thrown at the Genesis units, both for their appearance and (mystifyingly) their performance. The Chargers are a bit odd-looking, OK, they look something like the front end of some kind of caterpillar. I hadn't actually seen the HSP46 before reading about it here, Googled it. Wow. They look like long-faced spiders, with too many eyes and sinister mouth-parts.

Peak45068 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Give me a Genesis all day long. Least they sound
> good. Travelled on 4602 to Galesburg last week and
> I get more sound out of my pressure washer.
>
> The English like their locos to make a noise.
>
> Posted from iPhone


Welcome to the world of Tier 4, where all compliant locomotives sound like vacuum cleaners!

Peak45068 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Give me a Genesis all day long. Least they sound
> good. Travelled on 4602 to Galesburg last week and
> I get more sound out of my pressure washer.
>
> The English like their locos to make a noise.



But Americans in sleeping cars directly behind the locomotive don't want noise so the Chargers are an improvement...

> Welcome to the world of Tier 4, where all
> compliant locomotives sound like vacuum cleaners!

They do suck.  As one person told me, "Remember, it's not a locomotive, it's a propulsion unit".
 

Nice shots, Jim, but I don't really care for the Chargers!

RC Lundgren