Anyone her who remembers the last time Amtrak went into Grand Central?

[oltmannd]

narig01

MidlandMike

I thought the Empire service was going to use GCT during the Penn Station track work, but I don’t see any notice in the ATK schedule. To do so the dual modes would have to modify their 3rd rail shoe, or borrow MetroNorth locos.

I’m not positive about this, but if I remember correctly Amtrak’s P32 dual mode locomotives were built with third rail shoes that can be set for either overrunning(into Penn Station like LIRR) or underrunning(into Grand Central on ex NYC). I also could not say if Amtrak maintained this feature either.

On reflection I forgot about one other issue that will force Amtrak to use MetroNorth power into Grand Central. There is a requirement for locomotive crews to have an exit thru the nose as there are man places in the tunnel into Grand Central were there is insufficient room for crew to use cab side doors to exit a locomotive.

They must have backed off on that. None of the MN P32s have nose doors and they run into GCT all the time.

[NorthWest]

The MN P32s do have nose doors. That restriction only applies to the outer two tracks, though, and the inner two apparently have enough clearance to exit from the side doors. The current plan is to use a P32 on one end and a P42 on the other with the latter given the ability to remotely command mode switches.