THE NEWEST ROAD UNITS Here is a 2023 snapshot of the active 300 road numbers in 2023. So far of the new Chargers delieverd, #307 and #312 have already out of service temporarily due to road crossing accidents, and at least one other has been treed on the City of New Orleans. Engine #300 also was hit by a truck on the Coast Starlight and seems to be the most seriously damaged of the "long distance" Chargers so far. Siemens is assembling road number 300 series Chargers for Amtrak at Florin, California. These are of German heritage, although they employ Cummins diesel power plants manufactured by that Indiana company. As they are released, they generally go to Oakland on a local move, and then head to Chicago on Train 6. So far, they are regularly active only on the Empire Builder (since early 2022) and the City of New Orleans and Coast Starlight (in 2023). Previously, Siemens supplied the "state-owned" units for the midwest and California, along with a series of similar locomotives for Florida's Brightline. The German outfit is now evidently the go-to organization for North American railroads. They've been sighted going east on the Capitol Limited from time to time, but we assume only for electronic work and/or employee familiarization. In July they became more regular on trains 29 and 30. One also reportedly went to Sanford in April. So far no regular revenue runs reported other than Empire Builder, City of New Orleans, Coast Starlight, and Capitol Limited. The Coast Starlight, train 14, departs Los Angeles and overnights en-route, before arriving Seattle the next day. Train 11, the southbounder, has the luxury of an overnight stay in Los Angeles. The Starlight can interchange locomotives in Los Angeles with trains 1, 2, 3, and 4. It can interchange in Oakland with trains 5/6, and in Portland and Seattle with trains 27/7 and 28/8. At one time there was a dedicated pool of locomotives at Los Angeles (112-120), however that pool was disbanded. Gradually, it seems that Chargers will replace P42's on these routes, although as of late May 2023, so far none have shown up on the Sunset Limited (1/2) or the Southwest Chief (3/4). In late April 328 and 329 came east on Train 6 behind 172 and 45). In May, it was the turn for 330 and 331 to go east. On May 26, #332 and #334 made their appearance in Oakland, with #333 skipped at least for now. June arrivals in Chicago were #335 and #336. The first trip out of Chicago is usually on Train 30, evidently to get some final outfitting before going into revenue service. 300 - Road crossing incident Moorpark, California. 301 (Unique paint) 302 303 304 305 306 307 Wreck damage October 2022 in Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana. Repaired. 308 309 310 311 312 Mobile, Alabama Mar 16(train 899 w/313). Wrecked/nose burned April 26,2023 on test train w/313 trailing. 313 Mobile, Alabama Mar 16(train 899 w/damaged 312). 314 315 316 317 318 Train 29 Mar 16(w/206+319). 319 Train 29 Mar 16(w/206+318). 320 Train 11 Mar25(w/4). 321 Train 30 Mar 22(w/23+325). 322 Train 7 Apr3. 323 T58 May19(w/313). 324 T58 May 17/18. 325 Train 30 Mar 22(w/23+321). 326 Train 6 Mar23(w/UP5518+188+327). 327 Train 6 Mar23(w/UP5518+326). 328 Train 6 Apr22(w/172+45+329). 329 Train 6 Apr22(w/172+45+328). 330 T6 May12(w/164+54+331). 331 T6 May12(w/164+54+330). 332 T6May26/27(w/169+196+334). 333 T6Aug10/12(w/146+158+337). 334 T6May26/27(w/169+196+332). 335 June 2023(w/336). 336 June 2023(w/335). 337 T6Aug11/13(w/146+158+333). 338 T30Aug30/31(w/321+320+339). 339 T30 Aug30/31(w/321+320+338). 340 T6 Sep8/10(w/134+175+342). 341 342 T6Sep8/10(w/134+175+340). 343 344 345 346 347 348 349 350 September 9, 2023 Update from 4rr.com feedback at 4rr.com comments corrections updates ok