amtrak GE dash 8s

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s10mk

Train Attendant
Joined
Jan 6, 2017
Messages
80
Location
pittsburgh, pa
Back in October, I took a trip from pittsburgh to Washington DC on the capital limited. On the way to DC, our train was pulled by two GE Genesis engines, on the return trip, we were pulled by 1 GE Genesis and 1 amtrak GE Dash 8. Is it uncommon to see GE dash 8s on the capital limited and also the east coast in general?
 
Not very likely, as they are mainly used as switchers in the coach yards.
 
512, 513, & 514 are based out of Washington and commonly are found trailing as the second unit on 19/20, 97/98, and 29/30.
 
P-32s are in short supply now. two are in overhaul at Beech and each one takes 120 days to go thru overhaul. Source Amtrak performance report Nov 2016 Chief mechanical officer's report.
 
At 25 years approximately, Amtrak will not sink huge dollars into them. They are less powerful than a P-42 by a significant margin using the 12 cyl rather than the 16 cyl version of the 7FDL.
 
They should be used as road locos more than switchers.
The other reason (obvious, too me anyway) is that if a switcher is needed they are better suited than a cowl loco. Another less obvious possibility is they are at the end of their service life and with the light switching duties they can perform in that capacity for may years and avoid an investment in a dedicated switcher.
 
And they seem to be dong that. Mostly switching, some road use especially as a 2nd unit, once in a while as a solo but not too often. It's not like Amtrak is swimming in spare power. Charger deliveries will help a little.
 
So is there a reason, other than politics or some such, why the dash-8's are getting a rebuild rather than a presumably more useful P42 or F59?
 
They should be used as road locos more than switchers.
They're approaching 26 years of age. Would you take a 26 year old automobile on a cross country roadtrip if you had something newer? If Amtrak wasn't short of power, I wouldn't expect them in road service at all.

They should be used as road locos more than switchers.
Why?
Because think of other Class I railroads such as CSX using GEVO's and AC4400's or C40-8W's or any widecab locos as switchers! Lol
Well, it happens.

Most of Amtrak's purpose built switchers are elderly, many dating from the 70's or earlier. Short of an order for new switchers, the future of the P32-8 is either switcher or retirement.
 
They should be used as road locos more than switchers.
Why?
Because think of other Class I railroads such as CSX using GEVO's and AC4400's or C40-8W's or any widecab locos as switchers! Lol Besides, I think the Amtrak Dash 8's were designed specifically for road service.
Most of the switchers I see out here in UP land are six axle mainline behemoths. Extremely rare to see a purpose built switcher locomotive around here. Heavy reliance on dedicated unit trains and growing indifference to smaller shippers means very few manifest freights and very little switching required.
 
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I'm not sure I've ever seen anything other than 512 and 514 waiting on the platform with the Pennsylvanian at Pittsburgh. I mean, something else has to, but every time I've been there, its one of them.
 
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