The curse of the post Amtrak world

Amtrak #304 waits with the eastbound Empire Builder at Everett WA in the mid 1990's   Morgan Pavia Photo

When I came up with this post idea I did not realize that the very existence of Amtrak would be an issue. To give a peak behind the curtain so to speak I usually have a couple posts in various stages of completion at any given time.  Most of these "draft" posts are no more than a descriptive title to remind me of a good idea I had for a post that I did not have time to sit down and write on at that instant, this post is an example of that. Sometimes I even use these draft posts to remind me of an avenue I want to research in regards to the YPG lines. 


So what do I mean by a post Amtrak world? I mean anything after the inception of Amtrak so I suppose I could have called the post the curse of the post Rail Passenger Service Act of 1970 World but it just didn't have the same ring to it.  As I am no expert on Amtrak, I should note that most of the information contained here came from other sources over the course of the last 20 plus years most of it anecdotal, I have included my anecdotes and observations where I could.  However we all know how memories get over time and so I tried to verify specific dates etc... with a variety of online sources including Wikipedia (hey its on the internet it has to be true).  I have also provided hyperlinks within the text to items I could not provide a photo of out of my personal collection.

While my main focus is 1981 I do have interests from 1970-1996 so in essence I model the Amtrak era. So why is this a curse? The answer is simple this adds another railroad to the mix. Prior to Amtrak each railroad in the US provided its own passenger service, this meant that the locomotives and rolling stock were all on the same rosters as the freight equipment. It also meant that operating practices were the same.  Because of how Amtrak operates there can be many differences between the practices of the Freight railroad and Amtrak for example since Amtrak operates over multiple host railroads it is possible for crew change points to be different from the freight railroad. 

Most importantly it means having to research a whole other railroad where information will not be found in the same place as similar information from the freight railroad. For example when setting the modeled year at 1981 I can easily refer to Strapac's Diesel Locomotive Compendium Volume 2 to determine what locomotives I need on my roster for the SP, where as for Amtrak it is not as clear cut.

There is a possibility that counting Amtrak, four  railroads will be featured on this layout, and while the level to which these railroads is represented remains to be determined, rosters for each railroad in a given year still need to be determined.  This also gets interesting in that while the freight railroads might have tried to restrict locomotives and cars to certain terminals, some of Amtrak's equipment is definitely regional.

Depending on how the representation of Colton Crossing turns out there could be between 1 and 3 Amtrak name trains represented each with westbound and eastbound trains. These trains are:

1. The Sunset Limited (LA to New Orleans on the SP)
2. The Southwest Limited/Southwest Chief  (LA to Chicago on the Santa Fe)
3. The Desert Wind (LA to Salt Lake City on the UP (ATSF))

Each of these trains has different consist requirements and featured different equipment over the years. For example when steam heat was being phased out in favor of Head End Power (HEP) not all the trains transitioned at the same time. Figuring out these transition dates is key as it not only effects that specific train but there is a domino effect as equipment gets bumped off a given train it has a tendency to show up on other trains using the same terminal, in this case LA.

So lets start with a general discussion of the equipment used by Amtrak over the years starting at inception in 1971 and ending at the end of my modeled era in 1996. I am only discussing equipment that would have been present in the modeled area so switchers, diesels captive to other regions and electric locomotives will not be discussed here. Truly the 70's were very formative years for Amtrak as the company took delivery of most of the equipment that would serve it for the next two decades.

1971

This is Amtrak in its infancy, affectionately referred to by fans as the rainbow era because of the many different paint schemes present on some trains.  Amtrak started out life with a motley assortment of cars and locomotives acquired from railroads that joined. It should be noted that some railroads such as the Denver Rio Grande and Western, did not initially join Amtrak and continued to operate passenger service on their own. 

This era would seem to be a modelers dream as in theory cars could be acquired and run together from many different railroads based on the modelers like or dislike of a livery. However most the cars tended to stay in certain regions and some trains even managed to operate with matched consists.  At one point Southern Pacific even restricted Amtrak to only use former SP dome cars on SP rails due to clearance concerns. During this time steam heat was still the norm.

1973-1974

During this time frame Amtrak took delivery of 150 SDP40Fs from General Motors Electro Motive Division (EMD), these were the first new diesels that Amtrak took delivery of. The SDP40Fs were delivered in Amtrak's Phase 1 livery complete with pointless arrow logo. Some fans refer to this as bloody nose because they had a red nose, however to avoid confusion with the SP paint scheme with the same moniker, I will refer to them as Phase 1 or pointless arrow scheme. Like the legacy equipment the SDP40Fs were equipped with steam heat. During this time frame the legacy equipment (at some point this equipment was given the classification of Heritage Equipment) was beginning to be repainted into Amtrak's new image. While some rainbow does still exist more uniformity is present.

1975

During this time, Amtrak took delivery of  25 General Electric (GE) P30CH locomotives, these locomotives were ordered after the first batch of SDP40Fs.  Nicknamed the Pooch this was the first American locomotive delivered with HEP and delivered in the Phase 2 livery with thick red and blue stripes separated by white pinstripes and no pointless arrow.

This is also the period during which the Amfleet cars entered service. Painted in Phase 2 and equipped with HEP these cars were designed for short haul and commute service and while these cars would not likely have seen revenue service on the majority of the modeled portion of the railroad the cars were used on the San Diegan and would have been deadheaded to and from LA on the end of the long distance trains for repairs.

1976

In this year Amtrak took delivery of 30 F40PH locomotives from EMD. Also delivered in Phase 2 paint and equipped with HEP these locomotives were originally intended for short haul runs but eventual won the role of Amtrak's primary diesel locomotive. The F40 with its 4 axle trucks also marked a departure from 6 axle trucks a practice which Amtrak continues today.

1979

Since 1975 Amtrak had been taking  delivery of the Superliner cars which were also painted in the Phase 2 livery and equipped to run on HEP. Although the cars were on property they would not enter service until 1979 on the Empire Builder. Not all long distance trains were converted at the same time and trains were converted as equipment became available.

During the 1980's Amtrak continued to receive deliveries of F40PHs. It was during this time that most legacy units and the SDP40Fs were phased out.

1982

By this time Amtrak has gone whole hog on HEP and all new equipment is being delivered equipped with HEP. By 1982 I believe all the long distance trains in the west were equipped with Superliner cars. As Superliner cars were phased in the legacy equipment was phased out. Some of the cars that were in better shape were refurbished and HEP equipped and became the Heritage cars. The former Santa Fe Hi level cars were refurbished and upgraded to HEP as well and used in the Superliner pool. Some time in the mid to late 70's Phase 3 paint was introduced and by 1987 all previous liveries had been phased out.  Phase 3 while similar to Phase 2 consisted of roughly equal sized red white and Blue stripes and was Amtrak's longest running paint scheme. I also feel that aside from Phase 1 this is the most iconic livery Amtrak ever had.

1989

During this year the Horizon cars entered service. Like the Amfleet the Horizon cars were predominantly used on shorter hauls outside if the modeled area.  But also like the Amfleet cars they found use in short haul service out of LA and so would have deadheaded on a train to and from the car shops back east.

In the 1990's Amtrak was faced with replacing an aging locomotive and car fleet.  This was also a time where Amtrak was trying to improve its image and so some reinvention and expansion of service was ongoing, however so were cutbacks.  It was during this period when the P30CH was phased out completely and the transition away from the F40 began.  This era also coincided with the mega mergers of BNSF and UP swallowing the SP whole.  As a teenager I found this an exciting and interesting time to railfan.

1991

This was the year the Dash 8-32BHW also sometimes referred to as P32-8HW or B32-8HW were delivered.  These locomotives were a stop gap measure meant to hold Amtrak over until the Genesis locomotives were delivered.  Essentially these were freight units with added HEP and they looked it. These units were however delivered in a contemporary adaptation of Phase 3 and nicknamed Pepsi cans by railfans because of the similarity in colors. Personally I liked this livery and was sad when they were repainted into Phase 4 and later Phase 5.

Superliner 2 cars were also began being delivered in 1991. These cars built by Bombardier were upgraded versions of the Superliner cars as well as replacing some functions that the old Hilevels had performed such as the transition sleeper.  The cars were delivered in what would become the Phase 4 paint scheme and were quickly mixed into the Superliner pool.

Taken with a point and shoot with a light leak this photo illustrates both Phase 3 and Phase 4 paint schemes as the eastbound Empire Builder passes the Izaak Walton Inn in Essex Mt in 1994. The car on the left is an old Santa Fe Highlevel car reconfigured as a transition dorm.  The following two cars are newly delivered Superliner 2 cars.  Morgan Pavia Photo

1993

The GE Genesis series locomotives began arriving in 1993. The first Genesis models, the P40s (originally referred to as Amtrak Monocoque Diesel - 103MPH or AMD 103s for short), and featured a Phase 3 striping that faded toward the back of the unit. The idea was this scheme was supposed to make the stripes look like a waiving flag but I honestly do not remember it working. Probably for this reason and cost savings the scheme was abandoned on the P42s in favor of solid stripes.

P42 #18 and P40 #801 Waits on the mainline with the eastbound Empire Builder at East Skykomish WA circa 1997.  The passenger train is waiting for a BNSF Freight that stalled on the hill (if I recall correctly the train stalled in the Cascade tunnel),in the early days of the Dash 9s there were many growing pains on BNSF such as locomotives shutting down on the hill, some of this was due to BNSF under powering  trains with the Dash 9s on them.  The lead unit of the freight train in the siding has gone up to shove the stalled train through the tunnel. this photo perfectly illustrates the paint scheme differences between the P40 and P42.                                                                                                                         Morgan Pavia Photo

1994

This year saw the delivery of the F59PHI which was used in regional service such as the San Diegan (later Surf Liner) Amtrak California Service and the Cascades in Washington and Oregon and painted accordingly. Although these locomotives were not regulars in long distance service the occasionally got  ferried between Los Angeles and the Shops back east.

1996

The P42s began arriving on scene, although very similar in appearance to the P40s they were delivered in Phase 3 with solid stripes. These locomotives also received one or two digit road numbers which made them very easy to spot.  While P42s did eventually start receiving road numbers in the low 100s, I do not believe that this occurred prior to the end of 1996.

One thing I did not cover so far is test equipment. Most of the time these were one time publicity movements or ferry moves although there was talk at one point of a Los Angeles to Las Vegas Talgo service. Despite this talk I don't think it went much beyond a few demonstration runs and as I remember the Talgo train set spent its time in service on the Cascades still painted in the colors of the proposed Vegas service.

Sandwiched between two F40s The Talgo demonstrator train set pauses at the new Bellingham depot in the late 1990's.
Morgan Pavia photo

The various high speed train sets that made the rounds in the 1990s such as the Talgo pendular, were not a new phenomenon. In the 1970s high speed trainsets such as the turbo train made the rounds of the US as well. However just like the modern day Talgos these trainsets found niches elsewhere and therefore wont be discussed any further, although there is a picture out there of the Turbo Train at the Phoenix Depot back in the 70's so if I come across a Rapido Amtrak version at a price I am willing to pay who knows.  I will continue the discussion of the curse of modeling Amtrak and considerations for roster and operations for the YPG lines in a future post, until then just remember it is a journey and have fun.