First Time In MI! - NEW Siemens Charger #4611 Testing

Give us a run down of what you saw, post pictures if you'd like...any info is welcome.
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justin_gram
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First Time In MI! - NEW Siemens Charger #4611 Testing

Unread post by justin_gram »



Video was taken on both April 29th and April 30th, 2017.

THE FIRST DAY OF MICHIGAN'S AMTRAK FUTURE:
For the first time ever, Amtrak is testing their brand new Siemens SC44 Charger units in Michigan. Recently, two of these units were delivered to Chicago after being built and tested by Siemens in California. While Chicago only has two of these units at the moment (#4611 and #4604), many more are expected to be delivered in the near future as built. These units that are/will be based in Chicago were ordered to be used mainly on Amtrak trains in Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin.

In this video, test trains 950 eastbound and 955 westbound are seen in St. Joseph, Michigan, one of the stops along the Amtrak Pere Marquette route between Chicago, IL and Grand Rapids, MI. The train went eastbound through town on the morning of April 29th, and came back west towards Chicago on the morning on April 30th.

TRAIN CONSIST:
-AMTK #4611 - *NEW* SC44
-AMTK #54534 - SINGLE LEVEL CAR
-AMTK #82510 - SINGLE LEVEL CAR
-AMTK #82710 - SINGLE LEVEL CAR
-AMTK #35 - P42

LOCATIONS:
-St. Joseph, Michigan Amtrak Station
-St. Joseph, Michigan

CSX Grand Rapids Sub-Division (Porter, IN - Grand Rapids, MI), Milepost CG 88.

CAMERA:
-GoPro Hero 4 Silver (Sorry background is white, had some settings set incorrectly...)

Thanks For Watching!

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PerRock
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Re: First Time In MI! - NEW Siemens Charger #4611 Testing

Unread post by PerRock »

justin_gram wrote: -AMTK #4611 - *NEW* SC44
-AMTK #54534 - SINGLE LEVEL CAR
-AMTK #82510 - SINGLE LEVEL CAR
-AMTK #82710 - SINGLE LEVEL CAR
SC-44s are IDTX, not AMTK.

#54534 - Horizon Coach
#82510 & 82710 - Amfleet I Coaches.

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justin_gram
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Re: First Time In MI! - NEW Siemens Charger #4611 Testing

Unread post by justin_gram »

They're still IDTX? I figured it changed to AMTK when the unit was handed over to Amtrak, and since the test train was saying "AMTK 4611" as the engine when calling signals.

Guessing it will probably change to AMTK once they're painted with the Amtrak, not Siemens name...?

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Re: First Time In MI! - NEW Siemens Charger #4611 Testing

Unread post by Saturnalia »

justin_gram wrote:They're still IDTX? I figured it changed to AMTK when the unit was handed over to Amtrak, and since the test train was saying "AMTK 4611" as the engine when calling signals.

Guessing it will probably change to AMTK once they're painted with the Amtrak, not Siemens name...?
Amtrak will never own these. They'll be owned by the states which purchased them, and run under contract by Amtrak. Right now, Amtrak operates all lines less than 750 miles (outside the NEC) under contract with the states. Amtrak pretty much is the designated operator and brings their own equipment. Now the states will provide power for Amtrak to use, and if those bilevels ever show up, passenger cars as well.
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