WELCOME TO 4RR.COM General Electric's passenger locomotives at Amtrak (originally known as AMD-103's and later "Genesis") are being supplemented with a newer Euro design from the German firm Siemens Mobility. GE-produced "Genesis" road engines for Amtrak are now 24-33 years old. The greatest year of production of P42's was 1997 with 71 units, followed by the 60 units produced in 1997. Siemens ALC-42 "Chargers" are slowly arriving. Fifty-two Chargers have been commissioned for "long distance" revenue service (with another thirteen delivered but not yet used). The most recent to go into service in late August was #352 on Florida silver trains and 357 and 358 on Virginia regionals. As with the old GE's, several of the newly employed Chargers have also become wreck victims over the past two years. Charger wreck rebuilds are being evidently handled by contractors, unlike most P42's, which, when they could be fixed, were repaired at Amtrak shops. Implementation of ALC-42's into long distance corridors began in February 2022 on Empire Builder, trains 7/27 and 8/28. Recently a couple have appeared on commuter hops out of Ivy City to Norfolk and Newport News as well. So far there have been no regular overnight revenue runs of Chargers on Texas Eagle, Sunset Limited, or Southwest Chief. Those on California Zephyr have been delivery units only, and only once or twice have demo units shuttled on Lakeshore Limited. Delivered road numbers for ALC-42's so far are in the 300-364 group (#363 and #364 left Florin for the east coast on August 16). Up through September 9, road numbers #354 355 356 and 359-364 had not been pressed into service. The total order, planned by 2030, will reach at least to road number 425. THE GENESIS PROJECT AMD-103 - PHOTOS AND STATUS OF CURRENT TRAIN ASSIGNMENTS We are not associated with Amtrak or any other entity. However, we do recomment asm.transitdocs.com for real-time GPS plots and maps of where Amtrak's locomotives are running. For this to work, you really need the train assignment number, which we will attempt to keep as current as we can. Corridor assignments for active units may be found HERE. GE built 321 Genesis series locomotives (Amtrak monococque diesel, 103 mph), most of which went to Amtrak starting in 1993. Upgraded P42s accounted for 207 of them (road numbers 1-207). P42's still running on any given day were about 110 as of September 1. There are also still 7 active P40's left at Amtrak, generally on Auto Train. So there are still a lot to keep track of. Seventeen or so 1996-built units are still available for revenue operation on the national Amtrak system (with #18 and #22 returned after tree damage repairs). Road numbers 49-120 were built in 1997 and there are about 55 of them available (majority assigned to the NEC). The total complement of surviving 1996-97 units operating on a given day is roughly 65. P42 road numbers #85-132 are currently assigned to east coast routes. Originally only units #101-111 were northeast corridor units, but the number based in the east has gradually expanded over recent years. One eastern unit is from 1996 (#46), one from 2001 (#145), several from 2000 (#121-132) but most current Yankee units today date from 1997 (#85-120). In the 2000-2001 group (road numbers 121-207), about 50-55 remain available and operable at any given time, at least as of September 1, 2024. Many non-operable units are stored at Amtrak's major Beech Grove, Indiana shop, usually with various degrees of damage or replacement parts needed. Layovers and protection units are commonly found at Chicago, Oakland, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Ivy City, and Rensselaer, often for days at a time. In earlier years, most damaged P42's could have been repaired and returned to service. Now, not so much, and parts that are no longer produced new are cannibalized off of stored locomotives. A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE AMTRAK GENESIS SERIES The 1980's "Genesis project" (AMD-103) P40 series for Amtrak produced 1993 deliveries of 44 units, road-numbered 800-843. Amtrak sold off most of them for scrap, but several have been rebuilt so far for Connecticut DOT (by Amtrak) and lately the Keewatin Railway (by LTE). Starting in 1995, Amtrak began replacing the rest of its former EMD F40 western fleet with an upgraded P42 variant. Road numbers 1-47 were delivered in 1996, #48-120 in 1997, #121-135 in 2000, and 136-207 in 2001. P42 PAINT JOBS - FOUR GENERATIONS Genesis P40/P42 series locomotives have had four styling generations. Only one unit (#82) has worn all four. As-delivered, Amtrak's road numbers 1-100 (and #112-120 for Coast Starlight) were painted in 1g platinum mist, and carried traditional bicentennial striping. In 1995, a second generation "northestern" 2G variant appeared with modified stripes. It was originally for dedicated northeast corridor engines only (#101-111), but briefly spread to others that were repainted after wrecks. A change in Amtrak management and budget cuts killed the repainting program. A third change took place when more new engines started arriving in 2000. This was 3G (millennium). No post-2000 unit ever wore 1G or 2G except for as applied to a handful of commemorative 40 or 50 year anniversary special heritage units. This became the new fleet standard until 2024. All active P42's were in common 3G livery by 2006, but in January 2024 a new 4th generation scheme was introduced on engine #174. Eight more have shown up in the new 4G refreshed scheme since then, #69, #75, #82, #125, #138, #167, and #187. On August 28, #87 also joined this elite group. SPECIAL PAINT Over the decades, there have been a few stickers, advertising or political wraps, and special paint applied to Genesis-cabbed engines. This was especially true for Amtrak's 40th and 50th year anniversaries. "Heritage units" #160, 161, and #164 still roam Amtrak's network in mid-2024. Other existing heritage units today are generally confined to the NEC (#100 #108 #130 #145). Heritage unit #108 has recently gone out of service due to fire damage. Specially painted #203 also has had an operation lifesaver livery, and has generally been a roamer. After some recent service at Beech Grove, we are not sure what is next for #203, which remains in Los Angeles at last report. Along with the new 3G paint, a new corporate logo was also first introduced in 2000. Smaller logos on flanks have been gradually removed over the years, leaving only one on the nose and on cab sides. Beginning around 2006, often-smashed steel noses were also replaced with bolt-on versions. It took over a decade to replace them all. So there have been some variations in how cab-fronts look Three major variants of numberboards also occurred over the years, and there have been many non-standard ones as well. You can see some variants in our photos. See Pages 73-75./p> We tend to emphasize 1996-built units, as they are most likely to disappear first. Thanks for looking and we hope you enjoy the info, which is for private non-commercial use only. September 11, 2024. Update by 4rr.com - feedback "at" 4rr.com