AMTRAK LOCOMOTIVES 180-189

STATUS OF AMTRAK LOCOMOTIVES 180-189

Here are 180-189 road numbers in the 2000/2001 Amtrak Genesis order from the GE Transportation Division at Erie, Pennsylvania. All in this group were originally delivered in the low skirt millenium paint. Builder stickers also in the high position (but moved back to standard in subsequent overhauls). Steel noses were changed to the bolt-on variety over the intervening years. In January 2024, #189 was running with a non-standard number board.

Build dates are June, July, and September of 2001. Serial numbers are in sequential order with the road number. Engine #182 originally the name of Governor Tommy Thompson under the front cab side windows. Thompson became an Amtrak board member after serving as governor of Wisconsin. The name was removed at a midlife overhaul in 2006.

As of October 2024, two of the group of #180-189 were not in service (#184 and #185). Engine #184 was converted to a cab car, and is now designated as road number 9700 (A P42"C").

OUT OF SERVICE AS OF OCTOBER 2024

#184 - Serial 53040 (June 2001). Inactive since August 20, 2023. Went to Beech Grove and then back to Chicago. Conversion to cab car and renumbered 9700. Moved to Rensselaer, New York, then back to Chicago and Beech Grove. It is thought that compressor room equipment has been removed, but disabled prime mover was left to provide necessary weight.

#185 - Serial 52041 (June 2001). Derailed near Halifax, NC March 9, 2015 on Northbound Carolinian. Verified stored dead in October 2019, and still reported out of service at Beech Grove in March 2023.

MAJOR MAINTENANCE

Most major overhaul and repainting work is done at Beech Grove, Indiana. Here is what we have:
#189 - Fresh paint April 12, 2019
#188 - Fresh paint May 12, 2019
#186 - Fresh paint September 23, 2019
#184 - Fresh paint March 4, 2023 (heritage paint removed). But returned to inactive status in August. Moved to Rensselaer, New York. Released as #9700 in October.
#182 - Fresh paint August 27, 2023. #182 - Serial 53038. Former "Tommy Thompson." Moved to Beech Grove May 17, 2023. In maintenance. The last prior report we had on it in revenue service was on the Silver Star in April, 2023. Out in fresh paint August 28, 2023 and back to work on the Zephyr in September.
#187 Moved to Beech Grove May 12, 2024. Lost it's big game sticker and restyled into 46 as of June 25, 2024.

ACTIVE UNITS IN OCTOBER 2024

Other than #162, #182 became the only Genesis unit to carry an individual's name. The other named Genesis series engine, #162, briefly honored an Amtrak engineer (Michael Kumpf) killed on the job, but only did so for a few short months. It received a refresh between April and August of 2023 at Beech Grove.

Engine #184 of this group was originally selected to wear commemorative paint to celebrate Amtrak's 40th and 50th anniversaries. However, it too had the commemorative paint removed in March 2023 at shopping. It ran for a short time in 2023, WAS inactive again August, 2023 - October 2024. Now a cab car conversion in 4G paint, designated as a P42C. Wears a Rensselaer designation on flanks, presumably to operate in New England or New York.

Wearing a "Big Game" sticker 2022-2024 was #187. It is the most recent of several P42's to have had Big Game decals applied for the Heartland Flyer. The "Big Game" refers to the neutral-site annual football game in Dallas between the University of Texas and Oklahoma University. The stickers did not survive the current shopping as of June 25, 2024. This unit became the first in the 180 group to go 4G.

Engine 181 had the unfortunate experience of being involved in a catastropic derailment in Washington State, while it was trailing a Talgo trainset. The lead Cascades locomotive and several cars plunged off a bridge onto the I-5 freeway. Since 181 was trailing, it was not significantly damaged although most of the rest of the trainset was a total loss. It seems that Amtrak has regularly been keeping a 180-series unit on Cascades of late.

Late year 2024 reports for the active units in group #180-189 have been moved. Engine #184 was repainted in March, 2023, but went inactive again in April. It was sighted coming out of Beech Grove again August 20, 2023 and later moved to Rensselaer (for possible cab-car conversion). From Rensselaer it moved back to Chicago and Beech Grove. Then outputted to Chicago again in early October 2024.

To track a particular train's history, you can go to Dixieland Software and the asm.transitdocs.com website. Not all trips are necessarily captured and there can be errors in the reports we do have. Be advised that locomotives do swap positions en-route and/or get set out for mechanical and/or operational reasons. Train assignment numbers are listed with the date(s) of assignment to that train. Usually that is for the entire length of time the trainis running (excepting on the east coast where diesels swap with electrics for part of the journey). Train numbers in the 500 series that run P42's are Pacific Northwest Cascades in British Columbia, Washington, and Oregon (#186 had been out there forever).

OCTOBER 2024 TRAIN ASSIGNMENTS - SEE INDIVIDUAL UNIT PAGES FOR OLDER SIGHTINGS.

Current train assignments Moved to page 2001. In late October 2024, #180 was on Southwest Chief, #188 was at Ivy City working Virginia trains, and #189 was working Cascades.

As of August, 2024, there were seven active in this group, with #187 back from Beech Grove maintenance. There has been a conversion of #184 to a cab car for over a year. It arrived in Rensselaer on September 23, 2023. On March 13, 2024 it was moved outside the shop and photographed there. From there it went back to Chicago, then Beech Grove, and returned to Chicago in early October. The blower hatch and exhaust ducts have been plugged, and fuel filler caps removed. Other than those outward changes, we have little information on what the interior looks like since conversion.

Updated October 21, 2024 by 4rr.com If you have comments, corrections, additional information use feedback at 4rr.com