Four ex-Amtrak P40 Locomotives are slated for the Atlantic City Casino Train.
Amtrak engines 808, 810, 812 and 820 were 4,000 horsepower (GE 7FDL16 cylinder prime mover) diesel-electric passenger locomotives built by General Electric in 1993 for long distance train service and saw service over the entire Amtrak system. These four engines, however, have been in storage in Bear, Delaware since about 2003 giving them an Amtrak working life of about 10 years. They were removed in February 2007 from storage at Bear, Delaware and moved to Amtrak's maintenance facility in Beech Grove, Illinois to be prepared for a future sale/lease(?) to NJ Transit. The engines have been renumbered in our 4800 series: 812 became NJT4800, 808 to NJT4801, 810 to NJT4802, 820 to NJT4803.
These four P40 engines having been in storage and, I am sure, were chosen because they were surplus to Amtrak and had the clearances to fit through the North River Tunnels. The Atlantic City Casino trains are going to originate in NYP so this was a critical feature. The fact that they were available on short notice was a plus.
This is not
a P32AC-DM locomotive which looks similar:
The P32AC-DM locomotive is a "dual-mode" locomotive
(see picture below) that was developed
to run its electric motors on power from the onboard diesel engine
(3,000horsepower GE 7FDL12 cylinder prime mover) or from a
third rail carrying 750 volts of direct current and seamlessly transition
between the two modes while underway. The third rail equipped engines, of which Amtrak owns 18, are
numbered 700-717. They were built by GE Transportation Systems in Erie, PA with
the first order (700-709) entering service in 1995 and the second order
(710-717) in 1998. These units are designed to operate in 3rd Rail Electric
Territory including the tunnels in and out of NY Penn Station, as well as
operating on regular diesel power, thus the "DM" or "Dual-Mode" Designation.
They were designed to replace aging EMD
FL-9's that operated out of Penn Station.
There are not enough of these for Amtrak to run their Empire service let alone
sell/lease any to us and they are not powerful enough to pull a heavy train up the
grade through the tunnel reliably in any case.
Read NJ Transit's press release on the new New York - Atlantic City Casino service
Ergonomic issues:
On first inspection, these are some of the
ergonomic issues I found. We are working with mechanical to address these items.
1. One of the more obvious problems is the height of the ladder and that the
handrails don’t reach to the top of the entry door (Is this what the PL42AC
would look like without the vestibule?). I found it awkward getting in and out
of the cab door even without a bag. I know we can’t alter the height of the
carbody but maybe we can do something about the height of the handrails. Also,
the carbody is curved and the engineer cannot see the ladder below when positioned on
the top step. Below the second top step should be closed off with a plate so the
engineer cannot accidentally place his foot below the step on a slanted piece of
the carbody potentially causing a fall. This will be a problem especially in
inclement weather and at night. Carrying a bag up this ladder will be a problem
and carrying coffee to the cab will be next to impossible.
2. Visibility from inside the cab through those little slits of windshields and
side windows is atrocious; worse than even the PL42AC locomotives. This is going
to cause problems at stations where the train platforms across a main track,
spotting narrow platforms, or where passengers cross in front of the train at
grade crossings. There are probably prison cells that afford a better view of
the world. As with the PL42AC there is no way to clean the windshield without a
mop on a stick. The windshield washer reservoirs on the PL42s are almost never
serviced. I have little hope that these engines will get any better service in
that department.
3. The present throttle and brake will be replaced with a microcab and air gauges for reasons of compatibility and that makes a lot of sense. I assume this means we also get the Information Display Unit and the SDU replacing those two computer screens. Since the IDU (which displays brake pipe, MR, and cylinder pressure as well as traction loading) has a tendency, in the PL42AC locomotives anyway, to suddenly and randomly reboot itself the installation of air gauges and load meter as in the PL42AC locomotives is essential for reasons of reliability. It is imperative that the engineer have confidence in his air brake information in spite of the quirkiness of the IDU computer. Hopefully the air gauges can be installed to place the air gauges in easy view and in the direct line of sight so as not to require the engineer to turn his/her head away from the front of the engine?
4. Will foot pedals like the ALP-46 and PL42 for a horn (left), alertor/cab
signal acknowledger (middle), and door override (right) to replace the cab
signal/alertor foot mushroom on the floor under the control desk. With the
addition of an SDU will the CSS button (large red button on the right) be
removed as unneeded?
5. On the right wall, under the window are four windshield control knobs. Can
these be converted to electric for better reliability?
6. Will we have a modulated horn valve instead of the horn button (Blue button to the left of the throttle)?
8. Will these seats be replaced with the current ALP-46 standard seat? Since
this is a 1993 model locomotive I would like to have a couple of our guys visit
the unit to measure the seats to see if they comply with the current Human
Factors Guidelines for Locomotive Cabs From the FRA?
9. What is the autostart feature? When being used in pull-pull service with an ALP on one end and the P40 on the other can this engine be remotely started or will there be a machinist onboard on each trip to start the engine once it leaves NYP so the engine temperatures are correct when changing ends to run to AC?
10. The door stop for the engineer’s door is a tripping hazard with the door closed. It should be more like the door stop on the fireman’s side shown in the second picture below.
11. There seems to be no ventilation for the toilet compartment. This is a major
concern for the obvious health reasons. Even though this engine has been in
storage there is a smell that lingers even now.
These are a couple of items I found on
our initial inspection of the engine. I presume there are more issues lurking in
the background waiting to be found. There are rumors that more of these engines
might be procured for service elsewhere on the property. If this so then getting
these engines totally compatible with our present cabs would seem to be a good
idea.
.
Please address any corrections, questions, or comments to
me