Amtrak always ask for money yet they get rid of there Greate F40PH fleet to buy crappy Genesis locomotives. Whats with that?
What do you really know about locomotive buddy?! Im guessing nothing.
The Genisis is MUCH easier on the crew because of the noise levels. In the F40, you had to wear earplugs just to enter the darn things.
The f40’s engines were also starting to wear out. It was basiclaly a multitude of things.
You are a typical railfan. You think the railroads should use the “pretty” locomotives so tyou can get a nice shot.
Dont get me wrong. I love the F40’s. But they wore out their welcome.
F40PH enter production about 30 years ago, they units were old and needed to be replaced. The Genesis is higher horsepower, better on gas and most importantly NEW.
The new ones are fine… yeesh settle down
Take out the old engin put in a new engin it is cheaper then getting another locomotive and the Cabage idea was one of the worst ideas ever. Come on take a perfectely good locomotive and make it into a baggage/cabcar. If you get a new locomotive they should have gotten new updated F40PH or since it would be newer F41PH or F40PHX. After all you don’t need a Crapper in the locomotive put the HEP in the nose and a bigger engin in back. 
The fact is people always get nostalgic when a great old locomotive bids farewell. The F40 was a great, long lasting locomotive that is now too old and out of date. The Genesis is a much better locomotive for today, although I will admit it is the ugliest thing on rails. I do wi***hey could have produced more of the F59’s or a Genesis with a sleeker body style. But, ultimately it is about how the thing pulls trains down the tracks.
Ron
No, the cabage was a fine idea, it allowed trains to run push-pull with out using two locomotive, which save money (becuase you seem so concerned with saving money). Also, by no means would it be cheaper to replace the F40’s old engine with a new one, it is FAR cheaper to buy a new locomotive. Also, if you just replace the engine, you still many other age related problems (problems the car body, are the trucks still good?, etc.) Everybody love the GG1, but when its time had come it got replaced by the E60.
Dropping a new 645 engine (assuming you can find one) into an aging F40PH wouldn’t solve too much. Everything else would still be 20+ years old and the expense of replacing those parts would add up quickly. I will agree that the Genesis carbody is ugly but the locomotives have all the mechanical advantages mentioned above.
I have been in the Genesis locos. From the crews I have talked with, they are not a great loco. The visibility is very poor and they are not the “pullers” the F40s were. There are other complaints by the crews also. They may be somewhat new but garbage is still garbage, and ugly doesn’t even come close to a proper description of that rolling trash hep.
Well, assuming that you know nothing about locos or anything at all about real trains I’m just going to act like I never saw your post so I don’t laugh at you too much! Good luck though!
Those stupid Genesis units. I agree with ham549.
I have been in those locomotives a couple times and they are the most crowded uncomfortable locomotives. Plus they are butt ugly. GE really screwed up these units and the many other units that have come along too. I’m sorry if you guys disagree but you probably have not sat in one for over two hours. I have. So I think there terrible units.
James
I do admit that the P42Genesis (On the VIA Rennaissance lines) does’nt look very handsome, but the engine sound is very nice. I don’t think you can replace the good memories of the FPA4 and the F7A units they used to have, and last year i shot some video of the VIA Canadian #1 Eastbound, and it was lead by a tripleheader of F40PH’s, i will not forget the sound of 9000 horses and a near 30 car consist rumbling over the Winnipeg CN high line near Canwest Global Ballpark.
[:I]
Does Caltrain have any problems with their F 40’s ? They have been running them for over twenty years and only recently acquired “Baby Bullets”. These units must have something good going for them.
While suburban service is pretty demanding in its own right with stop-and-go and quick acceleration, most of the locomotive fleet probably makes only one or two round trips per day and lays over on the weekends, so it’s lighter duty than the long-haul service for Amtrak’s F40’s, many of which had accumulated over 1,000,000 miles (probably more) by the time they were retired.
mmm lets see…cup holder…Check…cruise control…Check…slow speed backing…Check…Distance counter…Check…Better ride…Check…Quieter cab…Check. Just some of the P42DC features I like to have when I run them.
Did the F40PH have trouble keeping passengers comfy in the wintertime?
Let me start by saying my favorite passenger loco is the F40PH. It is the loco of my generation and I have always been a fan of cowl units. I hated to see them go. But these locos had an 3.5-5 million miles on them (the Caltrain locos probably have less then 500k). It’s not just a matter of dropping a new prime mover into it. There are other considerations. The trucks,traction motors,main generator, radiators, compressors, HEP and controll stand all need to be addressed. And one of the biggest factors is the condition of the wireing both in the electrical cabinet and the rest of the loco in general. Then there is the general condition of the car body, 5 million miles has got to take it’s toll.
Fortuneatly we should see the commuter F40s in service for many more years. Just look at how long some of the E7 / F7s lasted in commuter service.
Sending some of the F40’s to Larry’s truck and electric was also a bad idea come on give them to people who could use them I know plenty of museums that would want them (it could be used as a tax right off). The MBTA uses F4o’s and they give a great ride good acceleration. If you want a brand new locomotive use the design that has proven it’s self, with a few upgrades of coarse 
Why, they already have P42’s.
Also, its a much bigger process than just “dumping” the unit on some museum.
Oh god…no, I don’t want to ‘let a n|gga drive a train’…