Amtrak’s Day One tribute locomotive is making its way east from the Siemens factory in California.
ALC-42 No. 301 was in the motive power consist of the California Zephyr that left Emeryville, California, on Saturday.
That train was to arrive in Chicago on Monday afternoon but mechanic issues en route had it running more than seven hours late.
No. 301 is expected to leave Chicago on the Capitol Limited on Tuesday evening en route to Washington and eventually an Amtrak shop in Delaware.
The unit wears the one-off livery applied to a Penn Central E8A 4316 for a May 1, 1971, ceremony to mark the inauguration of Amtrak.
Amtrak has ordered 75 ALC-42s from Siemens to replace the GE-built P42DCs and P40s now pulling long-distance and certain corridor trains.
The Day One design is one of several liveries Amtrak created to mark its 50th anniversary.
Thus far only the Midnight Blue scheme applied to P42DC No. 100 is in revenue service. That locomotive has made several trips on the Lake Shore Limited in the past couple weeks.
One other ALC-42 has been accepted by Amtrak and is being tested.
Tags: ALC-42, ALC42, Amtrak, Amtrak locomotives, Amtrak motive power, Amtrak's California Zephyr, Amtrak's Capitol Limited, California Zephyr, Charger passenger locomotives, Siemens ALC-42, Siemens Charger locomotives
Amtrak in the Heartland 
July 20, 2021 at 7:06 am |
One ACL-42 trial run between 2 P-42s on its maiden voyage leaving Emeryville CA, (Cal Zephyr) heading to Chicago, was a huge disappointment with its power plant issues causing the Zephyr to be delayed 7 hours early in its journey. What a calamity!