Nice roster of a rare Amtrak oddball. Many folks confuse them with the GP40TCs (192-199), which were less abundant with 8 ever being produced, but were employed much longer, were in more places and actually led trains. These GP40R lease units were only used as trailing power for a handful of years before being returned. They could be seen in the late 90s (sans stripes) as helper units on freight trains.
|
| Posted by on July 20, 2013 | |
The purpose of the leased GP40 fleet was to add extra horsepower for heavier trains. They had pass-through HEP power cables added, so that the lead F40PHs could still provide for the heating and lighting requirements of the consist. The reason they could not lead was, they were not equipped with the variety of differing cab signal and train stop systems, which the F40PHs had.
|
I was one of the regular engineers on 35/36 LA to Vegas.Caught some of these units on my job,help make up lost time across the desert.
|
I will not lie, I too confused the GP40Rs with TCs. Originally thought it was a GP38 rebuild in phase III, caused me a lot of confusion.
|
|