MORE ON AMTRAK #9 Amtrak started with hand-me-down EMD F unit locomotives when it started operations in 1971. The diesel fleet was replaced as soon as possible with new GE and (mostly) EMD units in the late 70s and early 80's, and again with GE P40's and P42's starting in 1993. Proud to wear it again in 1996 was GE serial number 49328. It showed a September 1996 build date, the second month of production. Also built in September were 8 and 10-14, for a total of eight. Compared to the 2023 progress of Siemens Chargers replacing the GE's, they are coming out at the rate of approximately 2-3 per month as of the latest information. Engine #9 served faithfully from 1996 until involved in a serious accident and derailment May 29, 2020 in Montana. The incident occurred when an agricultural spray rig was encountered on the BNSF High Line near Culbertson. More information will be posted below. Over the years, we have seen visual changes to the fleet of Genesis locomotives working at Amtrak. Locomotive #9 wore three different paint schemes, or rather two different paint schemes but two sets of stripes. Most obvious also, headlight lenes were removed, and later noses modified from steel to bolt-on composite panels. Eventually the old rectangular headlight box gave way to a scoop design for the headlight. As engines were damaged or overhauled, builder stickers were lost, and when eventually Amtrak got around to replacing them, only the engineer side received one. An outward looking camera was added to the fireman side windshield after 2010, and much more electronic gear has been added, including positive train control equipment. Engine #9 wore its circa 1993 "bicentennial stripes" livery from 1996 until the summer of 2000, courtesy of former Amtrak president Paul Reistrup. Typically P42's receive an overhaul and/or paint refresh at around three year intervals, although it can be sooner or later depending upon the number of hours of use. Wreck damage may cause overhauls to happen prematurely as well. After 1998, Amtrak started repainting (restriping) its diesels in a "northeast direct" livery, and that seems to have been more of a marketing inspired change for engines #1-28, as some were taken sooner than one might have expected. This striping scheme had initially been applied only to locomotives #101-111, which had "Northeast Corridor" stenciled on them as well. It expanded to include some of the western fleet only until the year 2000, at which time a new "millennium" bluenose paint scheme was introduced. Engine #9 evidently received that repaint in the spring or summer of 2003. It was the "low skirt" variant, which had by then become the system standard for P42s. There is no reflectorization on the current paint scheme, other than a narrow red band at skirt level. LAST TRIPS FOR #9 In May 2020 #9 had run uneventfully, on the Crescent from New Orleans May 15-16, then on the Silver Star May 16-17, and back as the Silver Meteor May 19-19. In Virginia it ran trains 95/88 of May 22/23, before heading west on the Capitol Limited of May 25/26. After a one-day layover in Chicago, it took the Empire Builder west on Thursday. Train 7/27, the Empire Builder, left Chicago on Thursday May 28, 2020 with a light passenger load due to COVID. Its ultimate destinations were Seattle for train 7, and Portland for the train 27 segment. The last previous stop had been Williston, Montana. Locomotive 9 was leading followed by rebuilt P40 #818. Both locomotives were retired following an incident on the BNSF Hi Line in Roosevelt County, Montana just across the North Dakota/Montana state line the following moring at 10:48 AM Mountain Daylight Time. The passenger train speed in this area would have been anticipated to have been 79 miles per hour prior to any engineer braking efforts. Engine #9 contacted a 4940 John Deere tractor being employed as an agricultural sprayer, and the operator of the tractor was killed. From EMS reports, the incident took place at county road 1013, which is unimproved, and did not have gates or lights. Most of the traffic in this area of Roosevelt County is to and from fracking sites, due to the development of unpaved roads to access well sites. None of the access roads are improved or gate-protected to to historicly serving only limited rural ranches in this low population area. The only through highway traffic route in the area is US Highway 2, which parallels the BNSF, just to the north of the tracks. In the past there have been other incidents in the area, including a 5 PM August 18, 2019 incident where a box truck carrying radioactive materials was on the tracks when an eastbound BNSF freight came through, killing the two occupants of the truck. It should be noted that these incidents took place in daylight in good weather conditions. A fire ensued, which was mostly controlled by passenger from the train using on-board fire extinguishers. Emergency response was quick, "within five minutes" according to reports. Most of the train (including 8 cars) lost contact with the rails, but none of the cars or the locomotives overturned. Sadly, this was not true a year later, when train 7 derailed in Montana on September 25, 2021, and the cars overturned in a curve. Although locomotive #818 was not seriously damaged, it has not run in revenue service since. Engine #9 sustained major front end damage from the impact and fire. It was ultimately moved to Beech Grove, Indiana and retired from service. The nearby community of Bainville, Montana had also been the scene of a serious Empire Builder accident March 16, 1984, when a loaded gravel truck hit the Empire Builder five miles west of the community. In the 2020 accident, passengers were moved to Culbertson, Montana, and eventually to Wolf Point. While there were some injuries reported on board, none were evidently severe enough to require overnight hospitalization. Train 8, which had left Seattle/Portland on May 28, was turned at Wolf Point, Montana, and took the light passenger load to their destinations. Only 20% of a normal passenger load was present in 2020 due to COVID. The NTSB evidently did not investigate this incident, although a report is in progress on the subsequent September 25, 2021 derailment at Joplin, Montana (RRD21MR017). The consist of Amtrak's Empire Builder was locomotive 9 followed by 818, and the following two-level"superliner" cars: 32003 "Edward Ullman" (sleeper) 38030 (Diner) 31006 34107 33012 (sightseer lounge/snack car) 34092 32087 (sleeper) 61027 (baggage - not "superliner") Eventually the equipment from the incident was moved east, making its way to Beech Grove, Indiana. A special hospital train (#920) moved the equipment from Montana directly to Beech Grove between June 5 and June 8, 2020. The Empire Builder consist had been re-railed and inspected, and was hauled in reverse order behind Amtrak engines 72 and 179. So engine #9 would have been trailing on the rear of the consist. There has been no activity report in more than three years on #9 or #818, so it is assumed that they have been retired from Amtrak service. Only two of the cars have returned to service as far as we know, and the majority apparently are still at Beech Grove. It will be interesting to find whether there will be any future service on a commuter railroad somewhere. June 12, 2023 Update from 4rr.com comments, corrections, additions may be forwarded to "feedback" at the domain name