Interesting. I didn't know there was a controversy. I like how they call it the "road engine."
NorthWest Their rumored retirement seems to pop up every six months, but because of their utility and Amtrak's occasional shortages in road power, they'll be around for a while.
Their rumored retirement seems to pop up every six months, but because of their utility and Amtrak's occasional shortages in road power, they'll be around for a while.
This picks up on a 12 year old AU discussion. I can't speak authoritatively about these engines' performance. They have been among the locomotives used as switching power at both Lorton and Sanford. When they have been used as road power, I am not sure whether they were truly needed for that, or whether they were simply being moved from one terminal to the other. I have been told that concern has been expressed about clearances in the tunnel between Washington Union Station and Alexandria. It is occasionally necessary for the Lorton switcher to make a move through that tunnel to move equipment for various reasons. I was told that the wide radiator presents some kind of issue. It would be best for somebody else to confirm or refute this. I have been away from the Auto Train operation for over 8 months, so I can't address the current situation.
Tom
As noted in the thread, their slow loading compared to EMDs does affect performance. They do have desktop controls, which are difficult to switch with. Their rumored retirement seems to pop up every six months, but because of their utility and Amtrak's occasional shortages in road power, they'll be around for a while. They can switch and haul road trains, something no other Amtrak locomotive can do. They aren't great at either role, but can do the job.
There are some B32's (500 series) assigned to Chicago as heavy switchers and presumably as protection power. There doesn't appear to be any problem unless they have desktop controls, which are not designed for switching.
I was poking around in the Amtrak Unlimited forum and there was some talk that Auto Train crews told David Gunn that P32-BWH and Dash 8 engines were unsafe and were tearing up the yards.
Post in question is here: http://bit.ly/17T0Bvo
What was so bad about them? On my recent Auto Train trips after 2010, the P32-BWH "road engine" as they called it was switching cars in Lorton and another one was even pulling our train north from Florida.
We even got to watch the engineer start one up while waiting in Lorton. My kids were so excited to see how complex these things are to operate.
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