HHP-8's are back

I thought that they were going to repair the cracked yaw dampers on the Acela Express trainsets first, before tackling the same problem on the HHP-8's. So it was a big surprise yesterday to see HHP-8 engine 657 on the point of Train 153 when I rode from Trenton to Baltimore. In my travels it also appeared that many Acela Express trainsets are back in service, at least for Boston-Washington trains, while New York-Washington trains will be the last to get full service back.

But I wondered why there was a HHP-8 on the point, if all Acela Express trainsets have not yet been repaired. The latter seemed to be the priority 2 weeks ago when everything was pulled from service.

Well we need both types of equipment badly. With the 15 or so HHP-8's gone Amtrak lost approximately 25% of its electric fleet. So it was forced to borrow locomotives from LIRR and NJT in order to have enough motives to get trains through the Hudson River tunnels which require electrics.

LIRR doesn't have electric locomotives, only MU's. I think MARC and SEPTA also provided one or two. Just to note as of August 3 NJ Transit has been using their new ALP-46 locomotives in revenue service.

MARC and NJT provided two loco's each to Amtrak. Neither Septa nor the LIRR helped out. The LIRR does not have loco's that can run off of catenary power, but they do have loco's that can run on third rail power. Much like Amtrak's P32 AC-DM's, however the LIRR loco's have their own problems too. They are less than two years old and currently rotating back through the manufacturers shops for repairs to fix many problems. Much like the Acela Express has issues, so do these engines. This only goes to prove that all trains have breaking in problems, it’s only the media that makes a big deal out of Amtrak’s problems.

As for the HHP’s coming back, I think that Amtrak was looking for the most easily repairable engines first. I’ve seen a HHP at least two or three times last week in Sunnyside yard.

If I remember right, the LIRR also had problems with the original order of diesels they received and it got to the point where they were going to refuse anymore from the manufacturer. This was before they received the order of dual modes. However, I could just be way off base.