Passenger Trains > ALC42 order completed?

I've seen Charger units in the 360s, and the order just goes to 374, I believe.

Have the final units been shipped yet?

Related question - have commuter agencies ordered this or variants of the model as upcoming orders?

Posted from Android

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> I've seen Charger units in the 360s, and the order
> just goes to 374, I believe.

The original order was for 75 units and I believe 373 and 374 where just shipped out.

However, in June 2022, Amtrak opted for a second order of 50 units, so the ALC-42s will go up to at least 424.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> Related question - have commuter agencies ordered
> this or variants of the model as upcoming orders?

There have been several variants of the Charger ordered and delievered by several commuter railroads along with regional concerns (Amtrak Midwest, Washington State)  I believe Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North and Washington State DOT have variants on order.  The LIRR and MN locomotives will be Dual Powered (diesel and electric third-rail I believe).
 

Look for this on the YouVideo site:

Siemens Florin Plant Status #6 - Amtrak Cascades Airo/ALC-42E + Others - 6/25/2025

375 is seen in background of the video

Thank you

Posted from Android

Metro North has taken delivery of the first units. They are dual power. They are testing and can be seen on trains.
Metro North has also ordered diesel battery hybrid units for use when the stations on the New Haven that are to be linked to Penn Station via the Hellgate Bridge become operational.  

The  13 Chargers for Hell Gate Bridge service will be powered only by catenary (MNR's 12.5kV system) and battery, no diesel despite the Charger name.  The service will be mostly or entirely from New Rochelle to Penn Station; Connecticut did not buy into this service. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/25 13:29 by joemvcnj.

SCAX3401 Wrote:
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> There have been several variants of the Charger
> ordered and delievered by several commuter
> railroads along with regional concerns (Amtrak
> Midwest, Washington State)  I believe Long Island
> Rail Road, Metro-North and Washington State DOT
> have variants on order.  The LIRR and MN
> locomotives will be Dual Powered (diesel and
> electric third-rail I believe).
>  

EXO (in Montreal) is buying 10. Two have been delivered so far, but are not yet in service.

Ray

It appears Amtrak ordered 50 additional ALC 42 units before they had any in-service results for the first 75. Look at the record. The initial service was on the Empire Builder in February 2022 same day Amtrak announced the additional order of 50 units.

Their decision to order an additional 75 units before they knew how well the first batch of units was doing, and during all the issues the SC44 Chargers were/are having, really does highlight the level of incompetence from the leadership at Amtrak. Amtrak always gets caught with their pants down scratching their head when something that was likely to happen does in fact happen. I guess at the end of the day it was really to just flaunt flashy new locomotives to the suits whether they worked well or not.

Still scotching my head on all of this. All of it. I'm still incredulous that Wabtec / GE and Progress Rail / EMD would just walk away from all of that business. Particularly when their new freight unit business is not exactly busting down the doors.

MC

westcoastrails Wrote:
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> Their decision to order an additional 75 units
> before they knew how well the first batch of units
> was doing, and during all the issues the SC44
> Chargers were/are having, really does highlight
> the level of incompetence from the leadership at
> Amtrak. Amtrak always gets caught with their pants
> down scratching their head when something that was
> likely to happen does in fact happen. I guess at
> the end of the day it was really to just flaunt
> flashy new locomotives to the suits whether they
> worked well or not.

So what were Amtrak's options? The P42's passed their Best By Date a decade ago and are starting to drop like flies.
Is there anything else they can buy that meets the standards and specifications they're required to meet?

Siemens will deliver 86 ALC-42E Chargers for the Airo trainsets(75 initially with an
option for 11 more) numbered 70001-70086.  The first two will be for Cascades
service with 70001 pictured at Siemens in Sacramento(YouTube screenshot). 
They'll join the eight Chargers already in service there. 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/25 16:37 by milepost20.

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So the ALC-42E's for the Airo's in the NEC basically haul around a diesel engine that is rarely used?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/25 16:36 by ts1457.

ironmtn Wrote:
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> Still scotching my head on all of this. All of it.
> I'm still incredulous that Wabtec / GE and
> Progress Rail / EMD would just walk away from all
> of that business. Particularly when their new
> freight unit business is not exactly busting down
> the doors.
>
> MC

They obviously did not think it was worth it. It’s boom bust with big hurry up orders then maybe nothing for a decade or more. And the politicking can be brutal. Companies want steady Eddie production as best as can be possible. They also want standardization. Every transit agency just wants to have everything their way. With nitpicking specs. That’s also why it costs so much. Dysfunctional really.

Maybe Metras MACH model might become something of a trend. Or a new PCC type committee where the transit agencies get together to pool purchases. Ha. I doubt it though.

Posted from iPhone



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/06/25 16:57 by Jonny_Chi.

ts1457 Wrote:
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> So the ALC-42E's for the Airo's in the NEC
> basically haul around a diesel engine that is
> rarely used?

Back up in case of power failure? Gotta have HEP so the poor, poor passengers won't suffer.

PHall Wrote:
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> Back up in case of power failure? Gotta have HEP
> so the poor, poor passengers won't suffer.

No good in one of the NEC tunnels. I was thinking that maybe the reason was to avoid a power change for trains that run past the electrified territory (e.g. NY- Savannah).

Amtrak seems to have forgotten basic railroading when they use an expensive locomotive to avoid engine changes.

ironmtn Wrote:
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> Still scotching my head on all of this. All of it.
> I'm still incredulous that Wabtec / GE and
> Progress Rail / EMD would just walk away from all
> of that business. 

Wabtec did bid on the Amtrak order

The Northeast Corridor is essentially being extended south and thus the need for
dual mode diesel and electric trains.  A quick look at the current Northeast
Regional timetable shows ten trains originating/terminating in  Virginia or
North Carolina and that total will only increase if those states continue to
invest in passenger rail.

Locomotive changing is a time consuming and labor intensive practice and only a
handful of the current ACS-64 fleet will be retained for the long distance trains 
operating south and west of Washington.

The Airos will also operate on the Empire Corridor and open up the possibility for more
through trains from north of New Haven to New York or Washington.  A review of the
Airo train types(from the European site RailColorNews):

∙26 trains Type B-1 = D+E short = diesel locomotive + 6 passenger coaches including one cab car. 
 The coach next to the locomotive will feature a transformer + pantograph (Auxiliary Power
 Vehicle & Battery Car or APV) so the train can also run in electric mode.

∙32 trains Type B-2 = D+E long = diesel locomotive + 8 passenger coaches including one cab car.
 The coach next to the locomotive will feature a transformer + pantograph so the train can
 also run in electric mode.

∙17 trains Type C = D+B short = diesel locomotive + 6 passenger coaches including one cab car.
 The coach next to the locomotive will feature a battery pack.  For Empire servuce--will NOT be
 equipped to operate off the third rail.  For the final approach into Penn Station will use
 battery power.

∙8 trains Type D = D short  = diesel locomotive + 6 passenger coaches, including one cab car.
 For Cascades service.

milepost20 Wrote:
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> The Northeast Corridor is essentially being
> extended south and thus the need for
> dual mode diesel and electric trains.  A quick
> look at the current Northeast
> Regional timetable shows ten trains
> originating/terminating in  Virginia or
> North Carolina and that total will only increase
> if those states continue to
> invest in passenger rail....

Thanks for that explanation. I guess we will see if it all goes as planned. Amtrak is in need of a success after all of the recent failures. I hope it is successful, but I have my doubts.