It's an HEP car, but in practice they're generally not used, and HEP is pulled from the locomotive. Either of the units was capable of hauling the train, but the Chargers were on probation at the time, having been in service for about a month.
The diagram on page 6 of the March 2018 issue of Trains lists one of the derailed equipment as a "power car".
What is this power car used for - the train electricity or motive power? Could not both the P42 and the Charger locomotives together have sufficient power to both move and light the train?
With Metra, we used a single F40PH for not only HEP, but to move up to 11 coaches up to 70mph between station stops.
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