Devil's Advocate
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HHP-8 starting to be retired now?
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KnightRail
Lead Service Attendant
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This foreshadowed movement occurred on Wednesday, when 928 & 942 moved to WAS, enroute to their new owner.
Acela150
Super Buff
And that owner is?
Ryan
Court Jester
Dare I hope that MARC is going to make use of them? VRE certainly can’t.
Acela150
Super Buff
That gives me a reason to travel to Maryland. 
Assuming a domestic operator, it's a really short list of just who can make use of them at all. Didn't MARC retire/scrap all their own AEM7's though?
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brianpmcdonnell17
Conductor
I believe they were located in Delaware, so if they were moved to Washington that eliminates anything north of the Washington area on the NEC. I don't know for sure if MARC scrapped their AEM-7s, but I haven't seen any in awhile. Is it possible Metra or South Shore could have a use for them? Beyond MARC, Metra, and South Shore, I can't think of any other potential passenger operators in the US that aren't north of Delaware on the NEC. Do any test facilities such as Pueblo own locomotives?
KnightRail
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They will be in the CAPITAL for a LIMITED time
west point
Engineer
"IF""IF" this is actually going to happen here is some speculation. Previous posts stated that MARC did not need electric motors as the Chargers could handle the required acceleration ? That was stated as one reason MARC did not add on to Amtrak's ACS-64 order. Another reason cited was speculation the ACS-64s cost 1-1/2 times a Charger ?
It may be MARC now realizes or was told by Amtrak that the Chargers on the Penn line trains are not going to meet Acceleration requirements ? That could be because MARC's desire to operate some longer trains and their stated need to add more trains ? As well faster trains might prevent MARC from having to 3 and 4 track their routes from Perryville ( eventually Wilmington ) to Washington as soon as would be required otherwise. The replacement of the 3 draw bridges on the route are expensive along with the B&P tunnel.
If the rebuilding works with decent reliability MARC may save some money over buying ACS-64s or having to use 2 Chargers on its Penn line trains.. That may leave MARC with a surplus of Chargers ? MARC has been having a lot of mechanical delays lately which of course not all are loco / motor failures on the Penn line. Extra Chargers certainly will not hurt with a standby at WASH and Perryville / Baltimore ?.
It may be MARC now realizes or was told by Amtrak that the Chargers on the Penn line trains are not going to meet Acceleration requirements ? That could be because MARC's desire to operate some longer trains and their stated need to add more trains ? As well faster trains might prevent MARC from having to 3 and 4 track their routes from Perryville ( eventually Wilmington ) to Washington as soon as would be required otherwise. The replacement of the 3 draw bridges on the route are expensive along with the B&P tunnel.
If the rebuilding works with decent reliability MARC may save some money over buying ACS-64s or having to use 2 Chargers on its Penn line trains.. That may leave MARC with a surplus of Chargers ? MARC has been having a lot of mechanical delays lately which of course not all are loco / motor failures on the Penn line. Extra Chargers certainly will not hurt with a standby at WASH and Perryville / Baltimore ?.
They will be in the CAPITAL for a LIMITED time
Go west young man or should I say old toasters?
Ryan
Court Jester
jis
Permanent Way Inspector
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And you really seriously think that one can just take a 12kV/25kV AC electric locomotive and plop it down under 1.5kV DC wires and it will purr along without any significant modifications, eh? Forget about METRA and South Shore. To run there they will have to change out the internal guts of the engines, which will cost a ton of money, before they turn a single wheel under their own power under 1.5kV DC cat.
brianpmcdonnell17
Conductor
Train_Freak
Train Attendant
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Is it possible for them to go to Caltrain? As I have read somewhere that they were thinking about getting a locomotive or 2 to test the overhead. I'll come back too say if I can find the place where I read that.
ehbowen
Engineer
One reason why electrification is not nearly as popular here as in Europe is that virtually every electrically operated railroad has its own power standard requiring custom-built equipment. It wasn't until the 1980s that the state of the art advanced to the point that a single locomotive design could run through the three different voltage/frequency combinations on the various regions of the Northeast Corridor.
brianpmcdonnell17
Conductor
That's interesting. Is the different characteristics of the Metra catenary the reason that all trains are MUs rather than locomotive powered?
keelhauled
OBS Chief
Ok, off the wall idea--there are various old E60s operating on a couple Western mining railroads, including some ex-Amtrak units. Possible the AEM-7s could be going to one of those operators?
Train_Freak
Train Attendant
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Found the link http://www.caltrain.com/Assets/Caltrain+Modernization+Program/Documents/May+2016+Quarterly+Report.pdf (edit) its on the bottom of page 4
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brianpmcdonnell17
Conductor
Is Caltrain close enough to completion that it would make sense to buy such old locomotives at this point? I thought construction hadn't even begun yet.
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Green Maned Lion
Engineer
No, it's that an electric locomotive hauled commuter train is moronic, and why NJ Transit has insisted on doing so has been the subject of much screaming among local advocates.
west point
Engineer
If this poster was Cal Train would at least have the retired units stored nearby. Why ? There is always the possibility that the EMUs Cal train is getting would experience significant delivery delays. After what has happened at CAF, N-S, and others do not trust a builder of passenger equipment, That way when electrification is complete the electric motors can pull conventional passenger cars on some or all trains ?. Another thought suppose electrification is temporarily only finished part way ? EMU trains would be limited to just the completed sections. By MUing an electric motor with Cal trains' diesel loco the advantages of electrification on those sections would be gained. One advantage would be the faster acceleration.
EMUs have the advantage of having multiple powered axels allowing quicker speed ups and slowing. A disadvantage is failure of a traction motor might require train broken apart to remove offending car motor. That is not as much a problem with the more robust newer AC traction motors.e
EMUs have the advantage of having multiple powered axels allowing quicker speed ups and slowing. A disadvantage is failure of a traction motor might require train broken apart to remove offending car motor. That is not as much a problem with the more robust newer AC traction motors.e
Word on FB is 29(11)
jis
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You have to look at what kind of power supply is used. METRA is 1500v DC, which is about as incompatible as you can get with the NEC's 12kV/25kV 25Hz/60Hz AC. You basically have to change out the complete innards of an engine to move it from one to the other.
Anyway, these units are going to Pueblo to the AAR Test Center.
