RailRoadFan.com

Remember when the Pere Marquette showed up with a new locomotive almost every day? Well, those days are gone. Compiled from your posts on railroadfan.com:

2023 year-to-date
3 locomotives
Every P370/371 run has had a Charger. No other locomotive type or NPCU has appeared.
IDTX 4603 - one run, P371-01 on New Year’s Day
IDTX 4615 - 26 runs, 1/1/23-1/14/23
IDTX 4630 - 22 runs, 1/14/23-1/25/23

June 29, 2020-December 31, 2022 (6/29/20 was the resumption of service after the pandemic hiatus)
38 locomotives - 28 Chargers, 10 others
Chargers - 1,767 runs
P42s - 58 runs
P32-8s - 2 runs

December 1, 2013-June 28, 2020
186 locomotives - 24 Chargers, 138 P42s, 6 P40s, 6 P32s, 9 NPCUs
Chargers - 778 runs
P42s - 1,951 runs
P32-8s - 84 runs
NPCUs - 1,036 runs

Cumulative, 1/1/2013-1/24/23

IDTX 4619
First revenue Charger on P370-09 of November 9, 2017.
Has the most runs on P370/371 - 238 to date*

IDTX 4627
The only IDTX Charger that has never run on P370/371
(If it has, it wasn't recorded on railroadfan.com.)

AMTK 27
P42 with most known runs - 130 known, certainly more went unrecorded*

AMTK 822

P40DC with most known runs - 12*

AMTK 506
P32 (Dash with most known runs - 34*

AMTK 90229
NPCU with the most runs - 249*

Other Firsts, Lasts, & Noteworty
Last revenue run of a Dash 8: AMTK 518 on P370-09 of January 9, 2022. The HEP died overnight in GR and the Superliners froze; P371-10 was a non-revenue move back to Chicago.

Last known run of a Cabbage: AMTK 90229 on P371-07 of January 7, 2019. The data can be sparse in this era, and I will keep digging, but at the moment, this is the last recorded run of a NPCU. No more vegetables.

Last known run of a P40: AMTK 822 on P371-16 of December 16, 2016

First revenue Venture coach: P370-15 of September 15, 2022.

Baggage Cars have run twice: (1) P370-03 of April 4, 2015 had four Superliners, one of which was a Coach/Baggage car. Someone said they thought Hope College had a group going skiing and added it for that. Four cars were on the train at least through P371-13. (2) P370-01 of July 1, 2017 and the next morning’s P371 had a Viewliner baggage car for unknown reasons.

There's a lot more to note--private varnish, the exhibit train, Ocean View, the Sightseer Lounge on the anniversary train, notable service disruptions--but it's time to call it quits for the night.

*June 29, 2020 was the date the Pere Marquette returned after its pandemic hiatus. Since then, practically every run has been recorded. The data gets less complete prior to that, but I have done at least one pass through the archives as far back as 1/1/2013.

if it ain't broke,....

Buster Manning wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 25, 2023 8:12 am

if it ain't broke,....

No kidding. As a passenger, I like to see those 30 day runs where no equipment changes. It’s a good thing. As a railfan, a little variety would be nice!

Life is full of contradictions.

You forgot to mention the date when 371 switched from a 7:40am departure to a 6am departure.

TSS wrote: ↑

Tue Jan 24, 2023 11:18 pm

AMTK 90229
NPCU with the most runs - 249*

I'm guessing this had to have started showing up after the schedule changed to a 6am departure on 5/4/2015. I photographed the PM frequently when it was on the 7:30-7:40am departure time, and I don't have a single photo of this unit.

I have many photos of these in the 902XX range:

-90200
-90214
-90218
-90219
-90221
-90222
-90224
-90251
-90253

Oddly, somehow 90229 has eluded my camera lens!


Here's another odd one for me:

AMTK 27
P42 with most known runs - 130 known, certainly more went unrecorded*

I have only two photos of this unit and both are on the Michigan line.

AMTK 27 is one of the ITCS equipped P42s, so it makes sense that it ended up on the PM a lot when not on the Michigan Line. They don’t tend to let the ITCS units stray too far from Chicago.

If your records went even farther back, it would also show 27 leading 371 back on February 22, 2006:
Ahhhhh, the 7:30am departure time.....

As Saturnalia mentioned, 27 is one among about 16ish P42s that are/were ITCS equipped to operate on the Michigan Line. 16 units were never needed at the same time for the 8 trains a day on the AML, so some of the others would often find their way onto other Midwest services....able to get back to Chicago in a day if there was suddenly a shortage of equipped locomotives to run into Michigan.

This whole survey of power is so interesting, TSS. Thanks for compiling and sharing this here.

406 was another cabbage that did run, albeit not regularly, on 370/371, in regular (non anniversary train) service.
90229 was captive for years on the Heartland Flyer and rarely traveled anywhere else on the system for a long time. I forget exactly when it came up to Chicago to join the rest of the NPCU Midwest fleet, but I have a photo of it on 371 on Nov. 2, 2015. 90413, the Canadian NPCU was also on the PM at one point, at least in November 2016. It's too bad the Chargers don't play nicely with the NPCUs, I'm sure everyone would be happy to not have to do the midnight Sunnyside wye move every night.

At this point, Amtrak is probably thrilled that the three Chargers that have been on 370/371 for this past month have held up as well as they have. Although, it hasn't really been much of a severe winter in West Michigan, either.....

J T wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 25, 2023 4:17 pm

I have many photos of these in the 902XX range:

-90200
-90214
-90218
-90219
-90221
-90222
-90224
-90251
-90253

Oddly, somehow 90229 has eluded my camera lens!

Somewhere in the period 2014 to 2019, there was a spectacularly ugly NPCU that hung around for a while. Do you remember which one it was? It was really rough, with rust spots showing through it a lot of places.

GP30M4216 wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 25, 2023 8:51 pm

This whole survey of power is so interesting, TSS. Thanks for compiling and sharing this here.

Thanks! I’ve built a massive spreadsheet that has two rows per day, one for 371 and one for 370. I’ve been working my way back in time using the posts on RRfan to fill in it. So far, I’m back to 2013. Eventually, I’ll get back to the “start of time” when RRfan launched in the early 2000s.

My spreadsheet captures locomotive numbers plus numbers and types of cars in the consist. So it’s possible to pull out all sorts of statistics about capacity, car types, locomotive types, and so on.

TSS wrote: ↑

Sun Jan 29, 2023 6:59 pm

Somewhere in the period 2014 to 2019, there was a spectacularly ugly NPCU that hung around for a while. Do you remember which one it was? It was really rough, with rust spots showing through it a lot of places.

Are you speaking of AMTK 90368, the "Steaming Pile of Crap" or "SPOC" as Jim put it?

It was probably the last Phase III piece of equipment running around, except for new-paints like 406, when it was finally repainted in 2017.

Saturnalia wrote: ↑

Wed Jan 25, 2023 6:12 pm

They don’t tend to let the ITCS units stray too far from Chicago.

Haha, you'd think! Then somehow every time a winter storm hits and the MDOT/IDOT P42s are needed, they're in..... California, Texas, or pulling the Downeaster for some reason.

Also yes, 90368 was the last original Phase III piece of equipment in regular service until it was repainted. Maybe an Amtrak employee on here can correct me, but did the Chargers really not play nicely with the NPCUs, or did Amtrak just not want to spend the money to recertify them periodically under the FRA cabcar inspection guidelines?

Schteinkuh wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 30, 2023 9:58 am

Maybe an Amtrak employee on here can correct me, but did the Chargers really not play nicely with the NPCUs, or did Amtrak just not want to spend the money to recertify them periodically under the FRA cabcar inspection guidelines?

I want to say I've seen quite a few posts from various groups showing NPCUs with Chargers over time and has made me ask the same question. Obviously they are compatible to a point, they have run together and did so quite often when the Chargers were new across the country. I'm not sure how often it is still done on other routes, if at all...

Here's a vid of an NPCU leading the Hiawatha in July of 2022, with the Siemens on the other end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xoBYsM ... l=WBVideos

justin_gram wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 30, 2023 12:03 pm

I want to say I've seen quite a few posts from various groups showing NPCUs with Chargers over time and has made me ask the same question.

It’s an oft-repeated “truism” and I’ve repeated it myself, but I agree with you guys. MU standards should be standard, and the chargers should be able to work with a cab car just as well as any other locomotive.

Which means either the Chargers don’t play well with other locomotives (period), or there is something about the NPCUs or the electrical continuity of connecting through the cars, or it’s just a rumor.

Keeping the cabbages on the PM also means keeping push-pull equipped Superliners captive to it as well. Are all Horizon/Amfleet cars push-pull equipped?

TSS wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 30, 2023 12:46 pm

Keeping the cabbages on the PM also means keeping push-pull equipped Superliners captive to it as well. Are all Horizon/Amfleet cars push-pull equipped?

I think a good majority are, but as for equipment right now all organization of MU/nonMU cars is off the table. Amtrak is swiping [semi]-captive Amfleets from the NEC, nearly to the point of cancelling regionals, just to keep up in the Midwest. If they wreck another long distance set I'd imagine daily service would be killed for the forseeable future.

Ahh, yes, the SPOC! I think I dropped my camera a few times near the end before it was repainted because it got so ugly. I did manage to take a few decent photos of it, with this being my favorite. Incidentally, this was the day after our last real blizzard in West Michigan, on February 2, 2011.

Here is 90368 blasting through a freshly plowed crossing on M-89 in Fennville. 371 was a few hours late out of GR that morning, so it made it easy for me to scope out some crossings to get a shot like this.

justin_gram wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 30, 2023 12:03 pm

Schteinkuh wrote: ↑

Mon Jan 30, 2023 9:58 am

Maybe an Amtrak employee on here can correct me, but did the Chargers really not play nicely with the NPCUs, or did Amtrak just not want to spend the money to recertify them periodically under the FRA cabcar inspection guidelines?

I want to say I've seen quite a few posts from various groups showing NPCUs with Chargers over time and has made me ask the same question. Obviously they are compatible to a point, they have run together and did so quite often when the Chargers were new across the country. I'm not sure how often it is still done on other routes, if at all...

Here's a vid of an NPCU leading the Hiawatha in July of 2022, with the Siemens on the other end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xoBYsM ... l=WBVideos

They worked together until they didn't. The early chargers didn't like to deal with traditional american MU commands. The NPCUs also rode like crap at speed, with the influx of "surplus" P42s they were retired due to lack of need.

What about the occasion when a freshly repainted Cabbage in the Cascades Livery came up here? That Green and White paint sure was a nice change of pace.

like this day????
https://www.flickr.com/photos/amtrak100 ... WAB-dbcZMN

MQT1223 wrote: ↑

Thu Feb 02, 2023 6:15 pm

What about the occasion when a freshly repainted Cabbage in the Cascades Livery came up here? That Green and White paint sure was a nice change of pace.

Yes indeed. Two different units that I captured: 90251 in 2012 and 90253 in 2014. Were there any others that I missed?

9/11/12:

7/13/14:

90252 and 90340 never made it up here.