WELCOME TO 4RR.COM We have cut back on our postings, and giving some thought to eliminating them altogether. This is due to lack of interest. 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 surviving P40s were damaged. 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. That Florin, California assembled product is designated as ALC-42, commonly known as a "long distance Charger." GE-produced "Genesis" road engines for Amtrak are now 24-33 years old. Most prolific year of production of P42's was 1997 with 71 units, with 60 in 2001 being the next largest volume year. There were 47 units produced in 1996 and 15 in 2000. 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 300-366 group. The total order, planned for completion by 2030, is assumed to reach at least to road number 425. There is a possibility of extensions and/or further add-on's to 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 howevver. 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 6 active P40's left at Amtrak, generally on Auto Train, although Siemens #357 started filling in there in mid-September. 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). 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. Several have been rebuilt so far for Connecticut DOT (by Amtrak) 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. 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 was released. 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. Octob=ber 7, 2024. Update by 4rr.com - feedback "at" 4rr.com