WELCOME TO 4RR.COM We have cut back on our postings. Each page is usually still a hyperlink. Click on any page or photo to move through the site. We've followed P40/42's for over 30 years now, and the light may be at the end of the tunnel. What do you think? We may still add some updates from time to time. In October, #9700 appeared (previously P42 #184) now converted to a cab car. It is now designated as a P42C. In other recent news, there has been another semi truck crash involving the Auto Train. Two of Amtrak's surviving six active P40s were damaged and are at least temporarily out of service. General Electric's passenger locomotives at Amtrak (originally known as AMD-103's and later "Genesis") are currently being supplemented with a newer Euro design from the German firm Siemens Mobility. That Florin, California-assembled-product is designated as ALC-42, commonly known as a "long distance Charger." They trickle east from Oakland to Chicago (and then to Wilmington), usually in pairs (led by P42's) on trains 6 and 30. In November, train 30/29 will be renamed and renumbered, henceforth to be known as the Floridian. Whether Charger deliveries will switch over to the Cardinal remains to be seen, as there will no longer be engine swaps required at Ivy City (Washington DC). An assumption is that train 50 may become the new delivery mechanism from Chicago to Wilmington. Including switchers and P40-P42 "Genesis" series, GE-produced road engines for Amtrak are now 24-33 years old. P40's date from 1993, and there were 44 built for Amtrak. Only four are still in operation today. Most prolific year of production of P42's was 1997 with 71 units in a full year of production. The next largest volume year was 60 in 2001. By the build stickers, there were 47 units produced in the short 1996 year (August-December), and 15 in the partial year of 2000. From the class of 1996 there are 25/47 available remaining locomotives as of October 2024. On some days there may be 20 actually running in revenue, but typically it has been 13-15 for most of 2024. Those are mapped somewhat generally on our yahoo map link. From the class of 1997 probably 60/85 remain available, for a total of 85 out of the original 120 in the 1996-1997 production. The whole list of retired P42's on Dave's page is also linked herein. Implementation of ALC-42's into long distance corridors began in February 2022 on Empire Builder, trains 7/27 and 8/28. Seventy-five were initially ordered, with a later expansion of fifty more. So far there have been no regular overnight revenue runs of Chargers on Texas Eagle, Sunset Limited, or Southwest Chief. California Zephyr delivery units have been non-revenue eastbound, and only once or twice have demo units shuttled on Lakeshore Limited. Delivered road numbers for ALC-42's so far are in the 300-367 group. The total order, planned for completion by 2030, is assumed to reach at least to road number 425. There is always a possibility of extensions, further add-on's, or depending upon politics in the USA, deletions from the initial order. THE GENESIS PROJECT AMD-103 We are not associated with Amtrak or any other entity. The photos on this site are ours. We do recommend 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 keep as current as we could for over 20 years. However this effort is now coming to a close if nobody speaks up. Emails will still be answered should you be looking for a particular unit. By 2024 many units had been retired, and some others are shopped and/or on light duties. 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). There are also still 4 active P40's left at Amtrak, generally two on Auto Train (830&835), although Siemens #357 started filling in there in mid-September. Two others (821&824) are still occasional roamers. Of those units earlier sold off by Amtrak, four have recently been privately rebuilt for Keewatin: 801=KRC 2506, #802=KRC 2507, 803=KRC 2508, and 839=KRC 839. Amtrak also rebuilt some for Connecticut DOT that now run on Metro North. They now have CDTX marks. Surviving P42 road numbers #85-132 (from 1997 and 2000) 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 the 1997 batch (#85-120 out of the road numbers #60-120 from that year). 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 has sold off most of them for scrap. As mentioned, several were rebuilt so far for Connecticut DOT (by Amtrak Beech Grove shop) and lately the Keewatin Railway (by LTE). P42 PAINT JOBS - GENERATION ONE - 1993-1996 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. GENERATION TWO 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 a few others that were repainted after wrecks and paint refreshes. In particular, surviving P40's were redone that way, as well as all of the P42's in the road number 1-28 group. A heritage unit retro-painted that way was #184, now having lost its 2G paint as a cab car conversion. A change in Amtrak management and budget cuts killed the repainting program. GENERATION THREE A third change took place when more new engines began arriving in 2000. This was 3G (millennium). Minor mods took place at road number #169, when small side logos disappeared, and a blue skirt band was narrowed. 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. Amtrak has also employed some stickers, banners, and wraps over the years. Three G became the new fleet standard until 2024. All active P42's were in common 3G narrow skirt band livery between 2006 and 2024. GENERATION FOUR In January 2024 a new 4th generation scheme was introduced on engine #174. It more or less matches what has been appearing on the new Siemens long-distance Chargers. Amtrak generally rereshes paint at its Beech Grove, Indiana shop, averaging one unit per month. Nine have shown up in the new 4G refreshed scheme in 2024: #69, #75, #82, #87, #125, #138, #167, #174, and #187. A tenth one was due out in October (possibly #152?) but instead #9700 (former #184) was released as a cab car. It is our understanding that #9700 still carries most of its innards for weight (previous F40 cab conversions used concrete to compensate for removal of power plants). It's apparent assignment will be Rensselaer, New York for use on Ethan Allen, or perhaps on Downeaster. Along with the new 3G paint, a new corporate logo was also first introduced in 2000. As noted, there were initially additional smaller logos on the skirt flanks that were later removed. 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 have also occurred over the years, and there have been many non-standard ones. You can see some numberboard 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. October 23, 2024. Update by 4rr.com - feedback "at" 4rr.com