Check Out Vintage Amtrak Locomotives

Today the old is meeting the new on our Northeast Corridor. We’ve got a big announcement, but before we say anything more, we’re taking a minute to look back at the durable equipment that got us here today.

Between 1978 and 1988, Amtrak purchased more than 50 AEM-7 locomotives, which would become the workhorses of our busiest corridor in the country stretching between Boston and Washington, D.C. At the time, they were considered lightweight at 101 tons (!!) and built to achieve top speeds of 125 mph.

If you’ve traveled with us since that initial purchase back in the day, chances are you’ve experienced one of these huge machines, which measure in at 51.5 feet long, 12.5 feet high and 7,000 horsepower!

AEM-7s are serviced inside what’s called an Engine House at our maintenance facilities along the Northeast Corridor. This is where “road battle” repairs have been carried out since they went into service. Those include damages from tree branches along the railways or dings from debris.

Our new equipment will also be serviced at these same 24-hour Engine Houses. They’ll replace our entire electric fleet in the Northeast Corridor by 2016.  That’s 70 locomotives, a $466 million investment and the creation and preservation of jobs in 60 cities across the country. Pretty cool evolution, huh?

Check out photos of the new Amtrak locomotives!

To read more about the equipment that the locomotives will be replacing, visit history.amtrak.com.

 

Are you excited for the new, more reliable equipment we’re debuting? Let us know in the comments below!