How fast does the NE Regional really go?

[Mystic River Dragon]

True about "toasters", I would go further and state the reliability and speed of the AEM-7s gave the NEC its legitimacy as an alternate to the air shuttles. But when the Acela arrived all attention was on it.

I agree. "Humble," perhaps, might be a better description than "lowly" for the AEM-7s. There is nothing lowly about a workhorse that does its job consistently, with no fanfare, while the Acelas and the new ACS 64s get all the attention.

Trust me. The AEM-7s got exactly the same sort of attention and Ooohs and Aaahs when they were new and back then the E60s and GG-1s were the lowly work horses. Lived through that period mostly adjacent or close to the NEC.

You know that period along the NEC better than I do, jis, since I was not living in New Jersey at the time. I am glad to learn that the AEM-7s did get attention in the beginning .

 

[Thirdrail7]

I think what people are confusing is at one point, there was a four mile per hour overspeed grace period on the AEM-7 DC. This was present to allow for wheel slip and other conditions. So while it wasn't necessarily authorized or practiced, it was possible. This feature was removed in the mid 90s and never existed on the Remans.