1970s Amtrak locomotives

[Anonymous]

No problem, Yev, we are all brothers at heart. It is not very often we meet other folks who share our passion for railroads. I'm just glad we have a place here to share info. and opinions.
Hope you have all "clear blocks ahead".
Take care, Todd.

[Anonymous]

Todd,

Sorry, I overreacted in my post. I certainly didn't mean to imply that you don't know what you're talking about. Like you said, no hard feelings?

[Anonymous]

I am sorry, my friend, I guess that I mistook your reply as a bit "hostile". I did not think that electric motive power was what the question was about. I tried to give a general description of Amtrak in the '70,s. Sorry if I offended you, I was only trying to help. If you read your posting, it sounds like you are "dissin'" me as an idiot who knows nothing about railroads. I'm 37 years old, and I have seen plenty. It just sounded like a request for "general-advice". And I tried to share my knowledge with the group.
So, no hard feelings, just lighten-up a little.
Todd C.

[Anonymous]

Todd,

Ok, first of all, I am 20 years old and have never seen a GG1 anywhere besides at a musueum once. So, I wasn't being nostalgic anywhere in my post.
Second, I too was offering help to my fellow modeller, but in the very beginning, I put a note that the provided info is useless as far as modelling Amtrak in Michigan is concerned. I trust that you're not going to insist that Amtrak operated electric locomotives in Michigan??
Just like you were informing Gerald what a typical midwestern train would look like, so was I informing him what a typical train would look like on the NEC. But because NEC is the only electrified mainline route in the US that was operated by Amtrak, it has its own equipment that's not used anywhere else

Now, please show me where I was impolite in my post, as you seem to insist??

[Anonymous]

Well, I'm not sure, but I have a feeling that our friend Yevgeny lives somewhere between Philadelphia, and New York City. Because that seems to be his only knowledge of Amtrak. Sure, if you want to model the "Northeast Corridor", this is the way to go. However, the vast majority of modelers live outside these boundaries, and wi***o duplicate what they are familiar with. I only offered the example of typical "mid-west" trains as a guide as to what one might expect to find in the early '70,s on the Amtrak scene. I don't think that my info was "useless unless you're modeling Michigan". I know for a fact that this was common practice all across the Amtrak network, from Los Angeles to Boston. I'm sorry that I didn't mention your beloved GG-1,s. But I did not get to see this territory as a young railfan. You eventually got stuck with "toasters", and I, got stuck with "F-40 Blast Boxes". Yes, we all long for the "Old days", but I was just offering my recollections, to help a fellow modeler. I'd "give-my-left-one" to see another PA-2, or 4-8-4, but nostalgia will get you nowhere. Let's try to be polite to one another in this forum.
Thanks much, Todd C.

[Anonymous]

If it's the early 70's (which I consider 1970 to 1974) I recommend some good old E's and F's (not necesarilly in amtrak colors) and if you're interested in a kitbashing project, you could turn an athearn FP45 into an SDP40. as for the cars, you could use athearn streamlined as well as walther's budd cars (personally, I prefer the budds)

[Anonymous]

I should have proofread my post....oooops...!

[Anonymous]

Gerald,

This is useless if you're modelling Michigan, but if you decide to model the 1970s NEC, here's a breakdown.

-GG1s (black with white lettering, numbered in the 900s). You got several choice for this model.

-Metroliner MUs - if you can finds the old Bachmann models, with some additional derailing they might be acceptable (depends on your style). Don't know about the running capabilities.

-E60s - again, the old Bachmann model. With additional details, it would be acceptable - again that depends on your style...for me it's fine as-is. However, the pantographs are not that good, but you have no choice. I checked thoroughly, even firms such as Roco, Fleischmann, Lima, Sommerfeldt, and Marklin - no siutable pantos. The running info?? It seems to vary with each individual model, and how it was handled by its previous owner.
Also, note that AEM-7s started to come online in 1979, so if you're modelling the very late 70s, you could maybe use #s 900-910 in Phase III. These are made by Atlas. Excellent model.

Also note that freight trafic under motive power was a common site on the Corridor. An E33/E44 would suit here, and there's a Bachmann model coming out in the fall.

Rolling stock? Early 70s belonged to the Heritage fleet, with steam heating, very often in the colors of the car's previous owner. Amfleets started to come online in 1974-75.

Hope this helps.

[BR60103]

I remember that the coaches in the trains were mixed from all different railroads and they called Amtrak something like "the Rainbow Road". Can anyone say if they mixed locos as well?
The paint schemes would, of course, move from no Amtrak at the start to almost all Amtrak at the end.
I think Todd left out the infamous P30CH (or Pooches) which were accused of causing problems. Maybe didn't get to Michigan.

[GerFust]

Todd:

Thanks for all that information. I am not modeling any specific geographic area right now; I'm doing a small layout to build some modeling skill. However, I did grow up in mid-Michigan so that is my likely target.

Thanks,
Jer

[Anonymous]

Todd C, nice historical data. Thanks for the up-date

[Anonymous]

At first, Amtrak had "hand-me-down" units from the railroads, mostly E-8's and E-9's. A small number of F-units were used for a few of the early years too. It would depend on what part of the country you are modeling too, as I remember seeing black Penn Central E-8's on Amtrak trains here in Michigan up until about 1976-77. Amtrak bought it's first new diesels in 1974, the EMD SDP-40F. These were mostly used on the longer distance trains until problems with derailments caused Amtrak to retire them. Athearn makes a pretty close model, their FP-45, which is available in the early Amtrak scheme. The F-40PH units came around about the same time the E-units and SDP's were being retired, about 1977. Also, in the midwest, Amtrak had several sets of "Turbo-Trains" from France. In the '70's "Jouef", a french model railroad firm sold some of these in the states in "HO". I have one of these, and they are not very good runners. Unless you want to attempt a re-powering job, stay clear of these (assuming you can even find one). But again, if you let us know what part of the country you will be modeling Amtrak, we all might be able to provide some more specific advice :)
Good luck, and I hope this helps!
Todd C.

[Anonymous]

I have a September 1972 copy of Railroad Model Craftsman that contains an article about the "bold" new Red, White, and Blue color scheme on Amtrak trains. Prototype photos included with the article confirm the use of E8s and GG-1s as well as the Metroliner and the TurboTrain. Another brief article in the same issue claims that the first Amtrak attempts at color were the adding of the red, white, and blue Amtrak arrow to otherwise black Penn Central E8s.
Ralph

[Anonymous]

According to Model Railroader, June 2000 edition,
the F40's were produced by EMD-GM 1976 thru 1978.

[MAbruce]

I'm pretty sure you would find a lot of F7 and E units, as well as electric units (GG). Also, I the F40PH's came out in the mid-70's.

There are several on-line Amtrak rosters. One is:

http://www.railfanusa.com/rosters/amtk.html

It's a current one, but it does list some SW & GP units that should have been active in the 70's.

I also found some photos which include some older units:

http://lib2.clark.cc.oh.us/amtrak/

Then there is always the Amtrak historical society:

http://www.amtrakhistoricalsociety.com/

Hopes this get's you started.

[Anonymous]

If HO, I think you are just in time.
Walthers Terminal Hobby of Milwaukee June Flyer is
listing the EMD F40PH,(sounds like a new run) can motor, dual flywheels, all -wheel drive-electrical pick-up,directional headlights. This Trainline model implies a life warranty against failure.
Amtrak, Phase ll, Phase lll & Phase V, $45.00

Also Walthers is discounting some of their Walthers
Amtrak passenger cars.(may require 24" radius)

www.walthers.com
1-800-487-2467, refer them to their June flyer

[GerFust]

I am modelling the early 1970s, the early days of Amtrak. What kind of motive power did Amtrak run back then?