The latest issue of Trains gave mention to EMD’s F59PH/PHIs that were built in the late 80s and 90s for commuter transit service, some of the earliest which are now in the process of being replaced by EMD-derived locos built by Motive Power Industries. The F59 series uses a 12 cylinder version of the 710G. At the time that the F59 was being planned did EMD contemplate a 16 cylinder version, which likely would have been a follow on for the F40PH and called a F60PH? Did EMD have such a loco in their product catalog and nobody bothered to order it? They could have pitched it back in the early 90s as a competitor to GE’s Genesis for intercity passenger service. The closest thing to a hypothesized F60PH, or even an F70PHI, would be MPHI’s new MP40, which uses a 4,000hp 710-16 with EMD derived components.
To my knowledge, EMD never built any F60s. They did build two or three F69PHACs which are now owned by Amtrak, I believe. Either that or they were returned to EMD.
I recall reading that the F69PH units had been sold by Amtrak to the DOT and then they were subsequently scrapped.
#450 and #451 were sold to National Rail Equipment. The 450 was reportedly scrapped while the 451 sits in a cannabilized condition in IL. Here’s a shot someone took of them in better times on a test run back in the mid-80’s.
I’ve only seen pics of them being used with some special train from Europe, never knew they were used in “regular” service.
They were bought by Amtrak with a buy back guarantee if they did not like them.
They ran on Amtrak for while but were sold back to EMD/Siemens , wich in turn used them for the ICE demo tour around the country.
I believe both units are still at National Railway Equipment.
They were still there August 27 2004.
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/pictures/1506/20040827PIC48.jpg
It’s ironic that #450, which was not “old” by locomotive standards and loaded with state of the art equipment from the late 80s, would be scrapped… yet a number of 1970s-80s F40phs continue to survive on other commuter lines or at museum/tourist roads.
Pictures of the F69
Is that car between the locomotives some sort of “Tender”? Dont recall seeing MU’s seperated by a single car before…
It is a test car. These engines never rose above the status of demonstrators/experimental and were owned by GM/EMD. They were gathering all the data they could as often as they could.
I think there was no need for a passenger locomotive with a 4000 HP engine. The majority of F40PH locomotives used a HEP alternator driven by the main engine. This meant that the engine had to run at 900 rpm whenever HEP was in use and the fuel consumption was quite high and the noise quite high. The HEP generator absorbed more than 300 HP, as well. The later units in Boston had separate HEP generators, making the units quieter, more fuel efficient and more powerful since the full 3000 HP was still available for train haulage. The F59PH and F59PHI both shared this increased power, since they had separate HEP generators and the 12-710G3B was still 3000 HP, all of which was available for train haulage.
M636C
The Nice thing about AC traction locomotives with HEP is they do not run at a high RPM but run at normal throttle settings 1 thru 8 when not providing HEP and notch 2 thru 8 when provding HEP to train.
The HEP inverter is not subject to steady freqencie input it will take any frequency.
The F69 the FL9ac and P32acdm all work this way.
A P32acdm will provide HEP anywhere between 365 and 1047 rpm