On the diesel side of things, GE supplied 25 new locomotives, the P30CH during 1975-76. They were not altogether successful, and were banned from certain railroads, but continued to run on the Southern Pacific for many years until they were finally retired. At least one railroad, the Burlington Northern, thought they were derailment-prone.
A turning point in Amtrak's switch from EMD to GE began with its purchase of a small number of these P32's. Some photo links to them are below. Delivered in 1991 in the red white and blue "pepsi-can" paint scheme, they were numbered 500-519, numbers that had previously been assigned, interestingly, to the EMD-built SDP040s. The share the same P32 designation as the later Genesis dual-mode cab units because of the 12 cylinder powerplant. The dualmodes, however, have hot shoes for third rail electric pickup. Both Amtrak and Metro North bought dualmodes. Amtrak was the only regular P32 converted freight unit buyer. The freight-based P32's have both corner stairs, side catwalks, and a front cab access door, making them especially useful as road switchers.
Two of these (501-502) wore the Amtrak numbers for only a short time, but were assigned California CDTX numbers to reflect that state funds were mostly used to purchase them. The remainder were placed into main-line service to supplement the F40's, which were beginning to run out their life expectancy. The new GE units were essentially six-axle freight platforms with a head-end power generator added, as opposed to the F40, which was a four axle unit. Amtrak, however, was really looking for a 4-axle, designed for passenger service more or less from the ground up. GE came up with such a vehicle in the P40 "Genesis" AMD-103, of which Amtrak took delivery of 44 starting in the spring of 1993. That is another story.
The P32 turned out to be a transitionary purchase by Amtrak, but definitely a "foot in the door" for General Electric. With the delivery of the second and third Genesis orders in 1996-2001, GE has come to dominate in the Amtrak diesel fleet. The old "pepsi-cans" were repainted by 2000, and by 2002 were mostly being used as terminal switchers in the east, or on California trains. Seldom are they seen outside of California on intercity passenger trains now, unless on positioning moves for servicing or overhaul. Exceptions are the Southwest Chief and the Coast Starlight, which often had P32's running as third units during 2005 (usually 507 and 510 but sometimes a Chicago unit would run).
Amtrak's intent, in their 2003 five year plan, was to retire these locomotives. However, as of 2006 nothing had come of that plan, and Amtrak instead retired their newer P40's. As for livery, these engines were repainted (except for 501 and 502) into the 1998-style "northeastern" paint under the short-lived regime of George Warrington. Mr. Warrington returned to New Jersey Transit (as did another Amtrak President, Tom Downs) because not only does NJT have a bigger budget than Amtrak, it also pays its chiefs better.
One common thread of external appearance on these P32's is the cab air conditioner hatch, which usually is rotten due to moisture and chemical leakage, and has been replaced several times. Often there is a mismatch in paint between the hatch cover. The "northeastern" paint was refreshed several times on most units, but 4 units were to be restyled as part of the 2006 budget. The builder data plate is actually made of metal on these engines, representing the end of an era. After this series, the data was transferred to adhesive stickers. On these P32's there is only one plate per engine, and at least two have been stolen over their 15 years of service.
Below are the photo links and the latest known location and uses. During much of the 1990's, Michigan commuter trains used some of these P32's, based out of and maintained in Chicago. They were replaced by P42's and no longer run in Michigan. Finding one in the lead of a long distance train today is indeed rare, and a real hoot. Due to lack of sightings, we are no longer actively maintaining these pages.
Those restyled now are 500 503 505 507 508 510 514 517. Apparently 508 swapped for 511 at New Orleans and back again during 2008. Sometimes rare movements occur for maintenance cycles, and one unit may first swap out for another and then back again. This has happened with 517 and 508, 517 not staying very long in New Orleans. There are still additional (regular) Amtrak yard (non-road) switchers located along with the P32's in at least Washington DC, Wilmington, Renssalaer, and Chicago. Yard jobs use them locally, and sometimes they protect P42's on Empire Builder and Coast Starlight at Portland or Seattle. A P32 (507) may also be stationed from time to time at Portland, Oregon or Seattle as part of the Cascade rotation. The CDTX units continue in regular commuter service in California.
Besides the Hoosier (which ran them consistently for mid-2008), P32's regularly show up on Cascades, the Surfliner (regular intervals), and Starlight. They randomly move on UP Illinois and Missouri commuter service, on the City of New Orleans, and the Crescent. Rarely they may appear on the Sunset or a Silver Service train. In March 506 apparently snuck into New Orleans and then moved to LAX on the Sunset Limited. It was running in Missouri and Illinois during October 2008.