battalion51
Engineer
It was a little over a year ago in August of 2002 when I saw Amtrak P-40 809 in New Haven at the head of a shuttle from New Haven to Springfield. Ten months later I saw the same engine in Wilmington as a part of the Amtrak program to store P-40's in this time of too much power. Today I learned that the 809's fate has gotten much worse. Sources in Wilmington tell me the 809 has been heavily vandalized, with graffiti all over the exterior, the interior of the cab with no rubberized surface, no seat cushions, etc. I think it's pretty sad that Mr. Gunn's program has turned this beautiful engine (only 10 years old) from the leader of a train, to a hunk of junk sitting on a track out of sight in Delaware.