AMTRAK LOCOMOTIVES 170-179

AMTRAK LOCOMOTIVES 170-179 P42 SERIES FROM 2001

Here are 170-179 road numbers in the 2000/2001 Amtrak Genesis order from the GE Transportation Division at Erie, Pennsylvania. All were originally delivered in low skirt millenium (3G) paint as a part of the road number 169-207 group at Amtrak. Up until January 29, 2024, this was the only livery this group of 10 had ever worn. But #174 has now been restyled into a circa-2021 "midnight blue" (4G) paint scheme first pioneered on Siemens "Chargers" in 2014-2016.

Builder stickers also in the high position (but moved back to standard in subsequent overhauls). Steel noses were changed to the bolt-on variety over the intervening years. Three of the ten in the 170's group are out of service as of the start of 2024. The newly restlyed #174 does not have a builder sticker on the fireman's side, somewhat typical of what has happened in recent years. Originally the P42's had them on both sides.

Build dates for #170-179 are May and June of 2001. Serial numbers were originally out of order for #177, which has a May build date but a June road number assignment. Evidently it was bypassed in the assembly process for a week or two before being assigned its road number.

The looks of these units had not changed much in 24 years. All but #174 wear their original 3G platinum mist/bluenose millenium. As of January 29, 2024, #174 was the first to be restyled in a new 4G 2024 livery (the second in 2024 was #82). The most obvious previous change over the years was the addition of the bolt-on nose cones, otherwise their original styling has just been refreshed from time to time. A forest of antennas have sprouted on the roofs with the advent of positive train control, with many other less obvious changes due to technology additions.

Some are dirtier than others, and the active ones are getting pretty far away from their last refresh dates, so it remains to be seen what will happen with them in the future. Of the original 38 low band millenium units, 28 remained in service at the start of 2024. The new 2024 paint scheme is reportedly slated for any of these that are still usable at their next major shopping. While the "navy" blue base coat evidently comes from Siemens 2014 series Chargers, the 2024 treatment is significantly different than the first groups of Chargers, and evidently represents Amtraks overall new marketing scheme.

Engine #174 is somewhat similar in appearance to 50 year anniversary engine #108, except for a second shade of blue on the flanks, and a white dividing stripe amidships. It will be interesting to see if any or all future locomotive repaints will be in the same vein as #174 was.

OUT OF SERVICE UPDATED TO JUNE 2024

#173 - Serial 53030 (June 2001). Stored dead since September 2020. Believed to have been involved with a lowboy trailer at Lakeland, Florida, evidently in the same October, 2019 incident as #177. Verified still stored at Beech Grove with nose damage March 2023.

#177 - Serial 53028 (June 2001). Went to Boston on the Lakeshore February 13-14, 2019 then served on the Downeaster where it had some sort of issue on March 20. Had to be rescued, then moved to Beech Grove. Came out in fresh paint May 26, 2019. Served on Texas Eagle, Heartland Flyer, then San Joaquin before heading back east for another road crossing incident October 30/31, 2019 at Lakeland, Florida on the Silver Star. Stored dead September 2020 at Beech Grove. Verified there March 2023.

#178 - Serial 53034 (June 2001). Stored dead at Beech Grove since October 2019. No April or May 2023 updates. Believed to have been a fire victim at Ivy City yard.

#179 - Serial 53035 (June 2001). Moved to Beech Grove July 2, 2023. Returned to service in fresh paint November 6, 2023. One of the last of the 3G repaints.

MAJOR MAINTENANCE

Most heavy work and repainting is done at Beech Grove, Indiana. Here is what we have on this group:
#177 - Fresh paint May 26, 2019
#171 - Fresh paint November 11, 2019
#174 - Moved to Beech Grove October 29, 2023. Received new paint January 29, 2024.
#174 - Serial 53031 (June 2001). BEE October 29, 2023. Repainted into 2024 4G livery, January 29, 2024.
#179 - Fresh 3G paint November 6, 2023. One of the last 3G refreshes.

STILL ACTIVE IN JUNE 2024

Some archived info has been moved to individual unit pages. Active lomotive assignments are now on the hiskirts page for engine numbers 170-207. Click on the serial number on each photo to see it. To track a particular train's history, you can go to Dixieland Software and the asm.transitdocs.com website. GPS plots of trains showing times and locations are archived. Not all movements are necessarily captured here and there can be errors in the reports we do have. The train assignment date(s) are here, except for the east coast, where only the date the diesel was in consist is shown. Typically the 170's do not run on the north end of the northeast corridor, so when you see an east coast assignment, it is usually out of Ivy City on the south end. The 500 series train numbers you may see see from time to time are Cascades in the Pacific Northwest.

There were seven actives in this group in June 2024. Two of the seven have some of the freshest paint in the fleet. Engine 174 went to Beech Grove for maintenance on October 29, 2023 and came out in revised paint on January 29, 2024...the first P42 in the new 4G style. It went to St Paul for the inaugural run of Amtrak's new "Borealis" service, and remained on that service through the end of the month. At that point it went over to Zephyr service.

Updated June 10, 2024 by 4rr.com feedback at 4rr.com