The F59PHI has not been in production since 2001, and there are only enough to cover the current services.
EMD's new cowl locomotives, the F125, will be used.
There are 36 F59PHIs on the Amtrak roster, 15 of which are owned by the Peoples Republic of California. The rest are also assigned to west coast operations. Personally I do not understand why retired F40s were not rebuilt into F59s; they are the same length and wheelbase so all the equipment should fit under the hood. They would have been ideal for Midwest corridor operations but it's not my railroad.
Editor Emeritus, This Week at Amtrak
The F40's were worn out (20 years of high speed running will do that) and were probably not good candidates for rebuilding. Also, they would have been EMD locomotives in a GE world and a certain amount of flexibility for assignment would have been lost.
CSSHEGEWISCH The F40's were worn out (20 years of high speed running will do that) and were probably not good candidates for rebuilding. Also, they would have been EMD locomotives in a GE world and a certain amount of flexibility for assignment would have been lost.
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.