Any way to tell which locomotive type when you book?

[DowneasterPassenger]

Hi All, I've been away from this forum for a while busy doing other stuff. I haven't been away from riding Amtrak though. I missed the folks here, glad to be back with a question for you.

A recent trip from PHL to BOS had me on the #194 being pulled by one of the older AEM-7 type locomotives. The train had repeated electrical problems resulting in stops and starts, "recycling" the engine and numerous instances of loss of HEP power. The delays added up and we arrived in Boston about 90 minutes late.

So my question is, is there any way to tell in advance, when making a reservation, which Regional trains are using AEM-7 and which use the newer HHP-8? Like, when you book an airline ticket, you can usually find out the equipment type. Is the same possible for Amtrak? Or do they just randomly switch the locomotives around all the Regional trains?

The second part of the question is, does it even matter? My subjective impression is that the HHP-8 is more reliable than the older locomotives, and one could expect fewer delays caused by electrical problems. But is that really true or is it always just a roll of the dice as far as equipment malfunctions?

Thanks for sharing your knowledge and opinions!

 

[Long Train Runnin']

There is no way to find out in advance, I guess if you really were that concerned the day of travel you could call an Amtrak agent and if they knew how, and were willing they could pull up the information on the train. The HHP-8 have been pretty unreliable, and Amtrak is already planning to replace them. Those AEM-7s are workhorses, and are usually pretty good. Obviously that locomotive was having a bad day could happen to an HHP-8 just as easily.

 

[Shawn Ryu]

Well, for the most part you get the general idea of which locomotives you know the train you are taking. Probably all long distance trains now use P42, unless theres electricity catenary around which is only in NE Corridor. Then they will use HHP-8, never saw them using AEM7 when converting from diesel to electric locomotive at DC.

But if you are taking regionals chances are the train is being pulled by AEM7, sometimes HHP-8 but mostly AEM-7.

But when you are using one of Amtrak California's train they will use F59, only East Coast train that uses this is Piedmont and thats run by the State of North Carolina. I have seen Amtrak use F59 along with P42s to pull long distance trains, but not too often.

 

[jis]

Well, for the most part you get the general idea of which locomotives you know the train you are taking. Probably all long distance trains now use P42, unless there's electricity catenary around which is only in NE Corridor. Then they will use HHP-8, never saw them using AEM7

Interesting! The last 4 times I took an LD train on the NEC they were all pulled by AEM-7s, and once by 2xAEM7s. So I don;t think it is accurate to say that LD trains are always pulled bv HHP-8s.

 

[Ryan]

The second part of the question is, does it even matter? My subjective impression is that the HHP-8 is more reliable than the older locomotives, and one could expect fewer delays caused by electrical problems. But is that really true or is it always just a roll of the dice as far as equipment malfunctions?

Not really, it's pretty much a roll of the dice.

Then they will use HHP-8, never saw them using AEM7 when converting from diesel to electric locomotive at DC.

Not true, I've seen plenty of LD trains with a toaster or two on the head end.

Interesting! The last 4 times I took an LD train on the NEC they were all pulled by AEM-7s, and once by 2xAEM7s. So I don;t think it is accurate to say that LD trains are always pulled bv HHP-8s.

Indeed!:



AEM-7 #919 by Ryan Stavely, on Flickr

 

[Tracktwentynine]

In all likelihood, when riding on the NEC, you'll get an AEM-7. Amtrak only owns 15 HHP-8s. There are 51 AEM-7s on Amtrak's roster, on the other hand.

 

[Trogdor]

It's rare that the specific power is assigned more than a few hours in advance. It's based on availability, maintenance requirements, etc. If they find last-minute defects, then things could get swapped.

As for reliability, in general, the HHPs tend to do worse than the AEMs. Also, I wouldn't let one experience paint the whole picture for how the locomotives perform.

 

[GG-1]

Well, for the most part you get the general idea of which locomotives you know the train you are taking. Probably all long distance trains now use P42, unless theres electricity catenary around which is only in NE Corridor. Then they will use HHP-8, never saw them using AEM7 when converting from diesel to electric locomotive at DC.

Aloha

Here are 2 toaster in the Washington, DC station

 

[The Davy Crockett]

GG-1: It really is mean of you to have us scroll down from that well-taken picture of the Toasters you took, only to have us see such a sweet looking engine - the GG-1 drawing!!! :lol: :giggle:

Sigh.... But don't mind me, I guess I'm just getting old and missing the relics of my youth!!!

 

[battalion51]

I would say that no matter what type of engine, diesel or electric, it's possible that you'll have engine problems. You get the wrong engine at the wrong time, things won't work out well. No matter what for me the AMTK 4 or 74 will be reliable, although I'm sure they're just fine most of the time.

 

[Acela150]

An IDEA... Is go on youtube and search your train and see what type of unit pulls it. For example, 174 was almost always an HHP until they extended 174 to RVR now it's almost always a Toaster. Same with Acela if you want know if FC is on the front or back. This is just an example.