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Amtrak had 146 working P42 locomotives, with 80 of them in revenue service on December 1, 2024. About half of those working revenue are on the northeast corridor today. The figure 80 is a bit deceptive, because another 20 or so were on turns from the day before. The latest non-NEC train assignments for those are found on our site (click anywhere on this page to go there). We've followed P40/42's for over 30 years now, and the light may be at the end of the tunnel. General Electric produced 44 P40 and 207 P42 diesels for Amtrak. Most p40's were scrapped, but a handful of the 2011 rebuilds remain stored at Beech Grove, Indiana, and five are still part of the Auto Train pool.. Sixty or so P42's are now retired as well, the most recent being #161, which burned up at Ivy City.

In October, #9700 appeared (previously P42 #184) now converted to a cab car and shipped back to Rensselaer. It is now designated as a P42C. Will the remainder of the surviving Genesis-cabbed units eventually be converted to cab cars? What do you think?

If you are using a smaller device, using your reader or voice speaker app may help with our site. The site is set up for computers and tablets, less so for phones. This entire page is a hyperlink to our contents page, as are all of our photos. Current train assignments are also updated frequently.

General Electric's passenger locomotives at Amtrak (originally known as AMD-103's and later "Genesis") are currently being supplemented with Euro designed engines from the German firm Siemens Mobility. That Florin, California-assembled-product is designated as ALC-42, commonly known as a "long distance Charger." They have trickled east from Oakland to Wilmington on trains 6 and 30 (now renumbered 41). Charger deliveries have switched over to the Cardinal, as there no longer is an Ivy City engine swap required for trains 40/41.

Most prolific year of production of P42's at Erie was 1997 with 74 units in a full year of production. The next largest volume year was close behind with 72 in 2001. By the build stickers, there were 46 units produced in the short 1996 year (August-December), and 15 in the partial year of 2000. The total was 207 for Amtrak, not counting P32 dualmodes (which are Genesis-cabbed). From the class of 1996 there were 24 available remaining locomotives as of December 1 2024. From the class of 1997, 55 are available. Eleven still run from the 2000 group, and 54 from 2001. The list of retired P42's on Dave's page is also linked on our contents page. There are also some shopped and stored units that may come and go from revenue operations. As of December 1, there were 80 P42's on the road in revenue service, as well as the one Auto Train P40 (#835).

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. The only Chargers on train 6 so are have been new units going east. Chargers on Lake Shore have also been very rare, and none have yet run in revenue service in the northeast outside of Virginia commuter corridors. Delivered road numbers for ALC-42's so far are 300-367. 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.

STATUS OF THE GENESIS PROJECT AMD-103

We are not associated with Amtrak or any other entity. But by observation, we note that by 2024 many units have 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 is still active P40s left on Auto Train (from servicable 817 821 830 835 837), although Siemens started filling in there in mid-September. One other (824) has been an occasional P40 roamer, moving as a third unit in early December. Of those P40 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 are currently assigned to NEC east coast commuter routes. Originally #101-111 were northeast corridor units, but the number based in the east has gradually expanded to include road numbers 85-132. While most eastern locomotives are from the 1997 subgroup, one is from 1996 (#46), one from 2001 (#145), and #121-132 are from 2000. Once and a while a northeastern engine will go to Florida, and rarely to New Orleans on the Crescent. The majority of them work out of Rensselaer, Boston, and Phildadelphia. The farthest west that any of them get is Chicago on Lakeshore or Cardinal. In addition to the dedicated eastern group, another dozen or so from Chicago rotate in and out of Ivy City. No doubt this will become less true with the new Floridian and as more Chargers go on duty in the future.

The remainder of the #1-207 survivors outside of the 85-132 subgroup are generally nationwide roamers, west of Chicago or New Orleans. They do rotate in and out of Ivy City from time to time, to supplement the eastern fleet. A few may be captive commuters elsewhere for a month or two, such as on Cascades, Heartland Flyer, or in North Carolina (#33, #37, #38), but in they past they always returned home to Chicago or New Orleans. Twenty-five to thirty are in various states of maintenance at any given time, including five currently known to be getting major work done at Beech Grove. Engine #97 has never reappeared after a truck strike in Connecticut, but we have no record of it ever moving to Beech Grove. In early December #37 and #126 were still running occasional non-rev test trains between New Orleans and Mobile.

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 eventually sold off most of those for scrap but 15 were rebuilt again in 2011 for Auto Train. As mentioned, several were rebuilt so far for Connecticut DOT (by Amtrak Beech Grove shop) and lately the Keewatin Railway (by LTE). Much of the technology employed in the building of the locomotives had its heritage in the development of the Edward G. Budd Company of Red Lion and Philadelphia, PA. Budd pioneered rail car building, and indeed most of the cars Amtrak still uses today (Amfleet) were built by Budd before much of the company was acquired by Thyssen in 1978. Rail car building continued until 1987, when most of the remaining assets went to Bombardier.Thyssen merged with Krupp, another German steel making firm, and Amtrak collaborated with Thyssen/Krupp in the development of the "Genesis Project." Bombardier's rail division itself was acquired by Alstom in 2020. Very little rail car or locomotive building remained under North American ownership at that point, with European firms completing the takeover of the industry. Today 6 P40s remain on Amtrak's roster.

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 in 1996-1997, Amtrak's road numbers 1-100 (and #112-120 for Coast Starlight) were painted in 1G platinum mist, and carried traditional bicentennial striping. There was a minor striping change from the P40's, but otherwise the 1993-inspired livery carried over.

GENERATION TWO

In 1995, a second generation "northeastern" 2G variant appeared with modified stripes. It was originally just applied to dualmodes and dedicated northeast corridor P42's (#101-111). After 1997 the 2G scheme briefly spread to a few other P40 and P42's that were being repainted after wrecks and paint refreshes. In particular, surviving P40's were redone that way, as well as P42's in road number 1-28 group. The only new P42's to arrive in 2G straight from GE were #121 and #122 in 2000. A heritage unit retro-painted 2G was #182, now having lost its 2G paint at the latest major shopping. 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) and applied to road numbers 123-135 in 2000 and 136-168 in 2001. In 2001, minor mods took place at road number #169, when small Amtrak side logos disappeared, and a blue skirt band was narrowed. Originally delivered that way were road numbers 169-207. No post-2000 unit ever wore 1G or 2G except for 121/122 and 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. 3G 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. Eleven have shown up in the new 4G refreshed scheme in 2024: #69, #75, #79, #82, #87, #125, #138, #167, #174, #176, #187, and #196. In a surprise, #9700 (former #184) was released as a cab car and painted again into 4G. 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. The October 24 release of #176 and #196 was the first time in a while that two units had come out of Beech Grove together.

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. Check out our contents page to see photos and train assignments for surviving P42's. In late November, three more P42's were at least temporarily out of service with damage. From New Mexico incidents were #81 (rock fall) and #144 (vehicle strike). Engine #81 returned to service. Also victim of a vehicle was #194 in Georgia. A Talgo cab unit was involved with a tree on November 18, causing injuries to the engineer of Cascade train 519. Engine #161 burned at Ivy City on November 25, and #54 was also damaged there.

SO YOU REALLY WANT TO GO TO FLORIDA BY TRAIN

This is the time of the year that many folks think about going to Florida. Amtrak offers three same-train ways to get there. The new Floridian is a 45 mph way to get from Chicago to Hialeah by way of Tampa (Amtrak choses not to use Miami Central station). The Floridian joins the two-nights-on-the-road group at 2,078 miles, a distance usually reserved for western trains (California Zephyr holds the long distance record at 2,400+ miles). The Floridian is the only train that serves Tampa. From New York and Washington, the Silver Meteor is the way to go. Both the Floridian and Silver Meteor serve Orlando. The Floridian has operated for a month now, and only twice has made it to Tampa on schedule so far. The longest delay was 6 plus hours around Thanksgiving, but the normal delay is averaging two hours. In Chicago, it is a quick same-day turn around for the Floridian, much akin to the Southwest Chief in Los Angeles, arriving in the morning, and departing in the evening.

If you do not mind ending your trip at Sanford, the Auto Train is the third way to get to Florida by passenger train. The advantage, of course, is being able to haul your vehicle with you should you desire. It operates non-stop between Lorton, Virginia and the Sanford southern terminal. Yes, it is still a few miles shy of Orlando. But if you have a vehicle, no big deal. Amtrak service between Orlando and Hialeah is slow. The Brightline beats it by several hours, now running between the two points in half the time it takes the Floridian, and two hours shorter than the Silver Meteor. Brightline also offers almost hourly trips, and generally operates on time.

We do tend to emphasize the locations and status of the 1996-built units, which may be the most likely to disappear first. We also like the new 4G units. Note that #79 made its first 4G run on Floridian. Contents Page./p>

Amtrak's diesel motive power strength is working its way back to where it was in 2001. At that time there were about 275 road diesels available. Today it is about half that number and losses keep happening, mostly due to truck vs. train at road crossings.

Thanks for looking and we hope you enjoy the info, which is for private non-commercial use only.

December 13, 2024. Update by 4rr.com - feedback "at" 4rr.com