Passenger Trains > 7(17) - ALC42 issues

Two of Amtrak's newest ALC42s were set to lead 7 today. That was until they either didn't have PTC, or they encountered some kind of last minute issue with the PTC. Two hour delay out of Glenview. Old P42 74 to the rescue. Reminds me of the very first day where they had the same issue and added engine 84 to the lead, 

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Its nice to hear a real bell ringing.Instead of the electronic ones

Jerry Martin
Los Angeles, CA
Central Coast Railroad Festival

Good old #74. Had that engine paired with #147 in 2020 on train 8 from Sandpoint to Glenview.

That’s after I alighted train 7 with engines 132+62 a few hours earlier.

Which in turn were taken from Havre, after riding engine 83 from Portland the night before, then 83+163 from Spokane to Havre!

Sandpoint waiting room in the middle of the night while on your own, is quite delightful!

Who says there’s no such thing as bashing locomotives in America.

Mind you, the introduction of those super quiet, snipped Chargers will finally kill my thirst for riding those noisy, smoky GE’s.

Englishman in America

Posted from iPhone

Peak45068 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Good old #74. Had that engine paired with #147 in
> 2020 on train 8 from Sandpoint to Glenview.
>
> That’s after I alighted train 7 with engines
> 132+62 a few hours earlier.
>
> Which in turn were taken from Havre, after riding
> engine 83 from Portland the night before, then
> 83+163 from Spokane to Havre!
>
> Sandpoint waiting room in the middle of the night
> while on your own, is quite delightful!
>
> Who says there’s no such thing as bashing
> locomotives in America.
>
> Mind you, the introduction of those super quiet,
> snipped Chargers will finally kill my thirst for
> riding those noisy, smoky GE’s.
>
> Englishman in America
>
> Posted from iPhone

You must have really loved the F40PH's then. They earned their name of "Thunder Boxes"!

We can't blame this one on Siemens, it is all Amtrak and WABTEC.

Those ALCs are peices of junk, simple as that!

ProAmtrak Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Those ALCs are peices of junk, simple as that!

Guess you missed the post above which specifically stated it was an Amtrak / Wabtec problem and had nothing todo with the locomotive.

DevalDragon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ProAmtrak Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Those ALCs are peices of junk, simple as that!
>
> Guess you missed the post above which specifically
> stated it was an Amtrak / Wabtec problem and had
> nothing todo with the locomotive.

And you didn't see what happened back in March when they used the units on No. 7 which resulted in a PTC issue and a few days later how 2 crapped out in Minot waiting for a BNSF Freight Issue to get fixed because of the extreme cold that happens up there!

  I've never seen a Charger unit up close or from far away for that matter.  I've wondered about the large side opening on the locomotive.  Is that a mesh or type of glass covering the opening??  If mesh, and the winter snow that Marias Pass gets how do they propose to keep the snow from getting inside??  Or is there enough inside pressure to keep the snow outside where it belongs?  Perhaps an outa this world dumb question but inquiring minds wanna know!!

ProAmtrak Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> DevalDragon Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > ProAmtrak Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > Those ALCs are peices of junk, simple as
> that!
> >
> > Guess you missed the post above which
> specifically
> > stated it was an Amtrak / Wabtec problem and
> had
> > nothing todo with the locomotive.
>
> And you didn't see what happened back in March
> when they used the units on No. 7 which resulted
> in a PTC issue and a few days later how 2 crapped
> out in Minot waiting for a BNSF Freight Issue to
> get fixed because of the extreme cold that happens
> up there!

Oh my god……one breakdown, it’s the end of the world, clown.

Posted from iPhone

Chargers are junk. Siemens squandered any potential of this locomotive being a long term success. Life cycle costs and reliability issues will kill the platform .

MM171 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
>   I've never seen a Charger unit up close or from
> far away for that matter.  I've wondered about
> the large side opening on the locomotive.  Is
> that a mesh or type of glass covering the
> opening??  If mesh, and the winter snow that
> Marias Pass gets how do they propose to keep the
> snow from getting inside??  Or is there enough
> inside pressure to keep the snow outside where it
> belongs?  Perhaps an outa this world dumb
> question but inquiring minds wanna know!!

Glad I'm not the only one who found this a bit odd. Not an engineer, so I don't have an answer. I asked this question over a year ago at least and still haven't gotten a good answer. These units came over Marias Pass last Jan/Feb looking like big ice pops and icicles. But, nonetheless, they did keep moving! 

Its screen with the radiator back inside it. I don't want to sound like im mocking you, but plexiglass would seem like a odd addition just to see inside. There is a great video out there of a technician walking through the interior.

KM-ML4000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Chargers are junk. Siemens squandered any
> potential of this locomotive being a long term
> success. Life cycle costs and reliability issues
> will kill the platform .

And the lack of anything else will keep it around forever.

Wolverine350 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ProAmtrak Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > DevalDragon Wrote:
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> > -----
> > > ProAmtrak Wrote:
> > >
> >
> --------------------------------------------------
>
> >
> > > -----
> > > > Those ALCs are peices of junk, simple as
> > that!
> > >
> > > Guess you missed the post above which
> > specifically
> > > stated it was an Amtrak / Wabtec problem and
> > had
> > > nothing todo with the locomotive.
> >
> > And you didn't see what happened back in March
> > when they used the units on No. 7 which
> resulted
> > in a PTC issue and a few days later how 2
> crapped
> > out in Minot waiting for a BNSF Freight Issue
> to
> > get fixed because of the extreme cold that
> happens
> > up there!
>
> Oh my god……one breakdown, it’s the end of
> the world, clown.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Clown? Whatever in my book since there were more issues with them besides that!

Posted from Android

DevalDragon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> KM-ML4000 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Chargers are junk. Siemens squandered any
> > potential of this locomotive being a long term
> > success. Life cycle costs and reliability
> issues
> > will kill the platform .
>
> And the lack of anything else will keep it around
> forever.

Hell no, they'll be like The FDP40Fs!

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/19/22 16:36 by ProAmtrak.

PHall Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Peak45068 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Good old #74. Had that engine paired with #147
> in
> > 2020 on train 8 from Sandpoint to Glenview.
> >
> > That’s after I alighted train 7 with engines
> > 132+62 a few hours earlier.
> >
> > Which in turn were taken from Havre, after
> riding
> > engine 83 from Portland the night before, then
> > 83+163 from Spokane to Havre!
> >
> > Sandpoint waiting room in the middle of the
> night
> > while on your own, is quite delightful!
> >
> > Who says there’s no such thing as bashing
> > locomotives in America.
> >
> > Mind you, the introduction of those super
> quiet,
> > snipped Chargers will finally kill my thirst
> for
> > riding those noisy, smoky GE’s.
> >
> > Englishman in America
> >
> > Posted from iPhone
>
> You must have really loved the F40PH's then. They
> earned their name of "Thunder Boxes"!

He doesn't. He's not a fan of EMDs.

I know all to well. We work together and travel Amtrak together.
He's a basher and I'm a railfan. For those of you who don't know, a basher is someone
whose quest it is to ride a certain number of miles behind every engine of a particular class.
In his case, it is to log as many miles as possible behind each of Amtrak's P42s.
His goal is a minimum of 1000 miles to "clear" each unit. It's British thing, sort of like trainspotting
except that you ride the trains instead of logging their passings in a book..

It is entirely meaningless to me, which is why I spent a lovely night in a cozy bed in Havre, MT
while he doubled back to Sandpoint, ID to "bash" two other sets of power.

My attitude is: "if you've seen one  P42DC, you've seen them all". The only time I ever shoot an 
Amtrak train is to send it to him. I lost interest in passenger trains after the E8s and my favorite GG1s were
retired.

I love EMDs, but I was never a fan of those Screaming Mimi F40s
I liked the SDP40Fs, but alas, they appeared to be allergic to staying on the track.

KM-ML4000 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Chargers are junk. Siemens squandered any
> potential of this locomotive being a long term
> success. Life cycle costs and reliability issues
> will kill the platform .

That’s funny, because the unit already is popular, Amtrak has committed already to 200+ ALC42s along with dual mode version. They work fine with MARC, WisDOT, and CALTRANS.

Posted from iPhone

Wolverine350 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> KM-ML4000 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Chargers are junk. Siemens squandered any
> > potential of this locomotive being a long term
> > success. Life cycle costs and reliability
> issues
> > will kill the platform .
>
> That’s funny, because the unit already is
> popular, Amtrak has committed already to 200+
> ALC42s along with dual mode version. They work
> fine with MARC, WisDOT, and CALTRANS.
>
> Posted from iPhone

Save your breath cuz' you're not going to change his mind.