Amtrak Train Operation

[Anonymous]

Why is Amtrak all of a sudden running trains with locomotives at both ends. The short trains I've see running on BNSF out of Chicago all appear to be running a GEnie on one end and a FP40 on the other. What gives?

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Amtrak has several push-pull operations out of Chicago, primarily to Milwaukee and Detroit but possibly on other short-haul routes. They use control cabs rebuilt from retired F40PH's on the end opposite the P42's. In earlier years, de-motored Metroliner coaches were used as control cabs and some of the ex-C&NW bi-levels used on the Valparaiso suburban locals had control cabs added.

[Anonymous]

Generally too, when BC-40 "cabbages" (the converted non-powered F-40-PH units you are seeing) are used on the opposite end of a train, they are usually on the end of the train pointed toward Chicago, as they try to keep the diesel fumes from the powered GE unit as far away from the station entrances as possible.

Also, these BC-40's have two distinct advantages over Metroliner cab control units: 1) they provide baggage space and therefore free up baggage cars for long-distance routes and 2) in the event of a grade crossing collision, the BC-40's (even in spite of having all of their "guts" removed such as the prime mover and so on) are still heavier than the Metroliner cab control cars, so more protection is provided to the engineer in such collisions.

[siberianmo]

Good info ..... I've wondered about the same thing and now I know.

Thanx!

See ya![tup]

[eolafan]

The trains you see on the BNSF in and out of Chicago are the Illinois Zephyr trains to and from Quincy, IL and they run outbound in the early morning and inbound in the early evening (if they are on time). These trains are frequented by students from Western Illinois University in Quincy. The trains have been running with either a P40 on one end and a "cabbage" on the other / or two P40's at times, for some time now (several years at least) and once in a while you will see them with only one P40 at the outbound end and when so they turn the engine at Quincy (difficult to do there for lack of a turnaround track). The "big" trains will always have two to four P40's and at times one or two "Pepsi Can" old GE units as well.

[Anonymous]

Thanks for all of the timely info!

[VerMontanan]

QUOTE: Originally posted by eolafan

The trains you see on the BNSF in and out of Chicago are the Illinois Zephyr trains to and from Quincy, IL and they run outbound in the early morning and inbound in the early evening (if they are on time). These trains are frequented by students from Western Illinois University in Quincy.

**
The Illinois Zephyr does serve Western Illinois University, but it's in Macomb, not Quincy.
**

QUOTE: Originally posted by eolafan
The trains have been running with either a P40 on one end and a "cabbage" on the other / or two P40's at times, for some time now (several years at least) and once in a while you will see them with only one P40 at the outbound end and when so they turn the engine at Quincy (difficult to do there for lack of a turnaround track). The "big" trains will always have two to four P40's and at times one or two "Pepsi Can" old GE units as well.

**
While there is no place to turn the train in Quincy, the train can be turned in West Quincy, Missouri, which is where the equipment spends the night. Historically, the stop for Quincy was in West Quincy, MO and was indicated in Amtrak, BN, or CB&Q timetables as such, or as Quincy (West Sta.). I don't know when the new station was constructed - I'll guess about 10 years ago - but it's on the north edge of town and it's no closer to downtown than was the location in Missouri. But it IS in Illinois!

[Anonymous]

This thread brings up an interesting point for those of you that follow the TRAINS.com News Wire. One of the widows of the fatality victims in the MetroLink disaster in LA a couple of months ago is suing the commuter railroad, claiming that had the train not been pushing with just a cab control car on the leading end of the consist, the train would not have derailed when it hit the SUV at the grade crossing. One more reason to use a BC-40 "cabbage" unit [8D].

[Anonymous]

Also, for any one not familiar with these units, I have a good picture of AMTK 90214 in Boston, Massachusetts on my website at http://images.greenfroginternet.us/RRTrains/Amtrak/AmtrakBC40-90214.jpg .

[Chris30]

It wil be interesting to see what the commuter agencies who use push-pull operations do in the future. How the lawsuit filed against Metrolink plays out (see other posts), might help determine the direction that the commuter agencies go in the future. I know that Metra (Chicago) has recently invested in a lot of new cab cars and I think that they are planning on using most of the FP40's for at least another 10 years or so.

CC

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

Almost all suburban operations are either push-pull or MU cars. The Metrolink suit could have a major effect on MU operations depending on how it plays out.

[jabrown1971]

While there is no place to turn the train in Quincy, the train can be turned in West Quincy, Missouri, which is where the equipment spends the night. Historically, the stop for Quincy was in West Quincy, MO and was indicated in Amtrak, BN, or CB&Q timetables as such, or as Quincy (West Sta.). I don't know when the new station was constructed - I'll guess about 10 years ago - but it's on the north edge of town and it's no closer to downtown than was the location in Missouri. But it IS in Illinois!