GE P40DC's are back

[coaststarlight14]

GE P40DC number 824 wqas pushing an amtrak california on july 29th and today number 815 was the lead unit on the westboud california zephy number 5.

[Freericks]

As a total diesel nut... I have to say the fact that these units are only distinguishable by their road numbers makes the hunt for them not all that worth it.

On the other hand, it is cool to see all these Dash 8 revivals (CN and Amtrak).

[nikos1]

Dont care about them as units unless they retain their old Northeast Corridor paint, but the fact that Amtrak is bringing units out of storage is a good thing, Im my opinion selling all the F40's was a poor decision, VIA rails are still going strong and while maybe not that old, they have to endure the harsh Canadian winters.

[coaststarlight14]

that's all true, and i would've liked to see the F40's in phase V before they were converted to cabbages.

[stevenmwelch]

Look at Caltrain (an Amtrak operation), their F40PH's (ex AMTK too) are racking up the miles shuffling commuters between the South Bay and San Francisco.. Yeah, they're getting worn out, and in need of a rebuild, but most have the original prime movers.

And, the P40's are now P42DC's just with a cooler number, plus some technical stuff like air brake setups.

[chuckman]

821 has been seen for the past couple weeks bouncing around out in New York State on 48/49

[Photoshooter09]

As far as crew comfort/ noise levels, the F40's are LOUD!! The diesel engine is always running at #4 throttle. However, like all EMD's, they are reliable and trustworthy. Amtrak bought GE's to replace them and as all GE's, suffered reliability issues. But, some of the F40's received a new lease on life with short line's/ regional's. Fortunately, these bugs have been worked out for the most part.

[chuckman]

There was quite a interesting article regarding the rebuilding of the P40s in this month's TRAINS. They did a nice job on them! Are there any distinguishing physical features that set it apart from the P32s and P42s?

Good to know they're fixing engines with stimulus money that Joe Boardman wants to replace in the near future anyway!

[coaststarlight14]

they are the 800 series...

[trainboysd40]

Don't they have strobes on the cab?

[coaststarlight14]

nope, i'm pretty sure they don't

[trainboysd40]

Well, that's boring.

[nikos1]

Its slamtrak, what did you expect?

[trainboysd40]

Cab strobes :cry:
Didn't anyone else watch There Goes A Train when they were 8??

[Joey Bowman]

Cab strobes :cry:
Didn't anyone else watch There Goes A Train when they were 8??

Sadly I did. And sadly I thought that conductor Dave or what ever his name was was really in control of the train and almost crashed it. He should have paid attention when they were giving him his briefing.

[chuckman]

That title does sound familiar! Now that I think about it...I really liked that one! Anyway, I guess they are just as boring as the other units...not even a darn cab strobe!