GE P40DC

The P40DC was the first locomotive in General Electric's Genesis series, introduced in 1993 to address Amtrak's need for a modern, high-performance passenger diesel. Originally designated the AMD-103, standing for Amtrak Monocoque Diesel capable of 103 miles per hour, the type represented a significant departure from the aging EMD F40PH fleet that had long powered Amtrak's long-distance and corridor trains. A total of 44 units were delivered, and from the outset they demonstrated a notable efficiency advantage over their predecessors, with two P40DCs capable of handling work that previously required three F40PHs. The fleet's service history was marked by both success and misfortune. Three locomotives were lost in major accidents, including unit 819, which was destroyed in the 1993 Big Bayou Canot disaster in Alabama, and units 807 and 829, which were wrecked in the 1999 Bourbonnais, Illinois, crash. As deliveries of the improved P42DC accumulated through the late 1990s and into the 2000s, the P40DC was gradually displaced from front-line Amtrak service. Eight units were leased and subsequently sold to the Connecticut Department of Transportation for Shore Line East service in 2005, and four others were sold to New Jersey Transit in 2007, with those units eventually passing to ConnDOT as well by 2015. Fifteen of the units remaining in Amtrak's inventory were overhauled and returned to service beginning in March 2010 using funding provided through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, a program commonly referred to as TIGER stimulus funding. These rebuilt locomotives emerged from the Beech Grove Shops with upgraded prime movers and enhanced cab signaling systems. The ConnDOT fleet similarly underwent a comprehensive overhaul program, with Amtrak contracted in January 2018 to perform the work at Beech Grove, the first completed unit emerging in early 2021. Following the introduction of M8 electric multiple unit trains on Shore Line East, the P40DCs in Connecticut were reassigned exclusively to Hartford Line service.

The P40DC is powered by a GE FDL16 prime mover, a sixteen-cylinder four-stroke turbocharged diesel engine producing 4,000 horsepower at 1,047 rpm under full traction load. The locomotive uses a conventional diesel-electric transmission in which the engine drives a generator supplying direct current to the traction motors, which are arranged in a B-B wheel configuration on two two-axle trucks manufactured by Krupp Verkehrstechnik. The carbody is a lightweight monocoque structure, meaning the outer shell contributes to the overall structural integrity of the locomotive rather than riding atop a separate heavy underframe. This design, styled by industrial designer Cesar Vergara, reduced overall height to 14 feet 4 inches, a deliberate engineering choice that allowed operation through the low-clearance tunnels found along the Northeast Corridor. Head-end power is provided at up to 800 kilowatts and is drawn from the main engine, which in HEP mode runs at a locked speed of 900 rpm, reducing available traction output to 3,550 horsepower under zero HEP load and further to approximately 2,525 horsepower when supplying the full 800 kilowatt HEP demand. A distinctive feature of the original P40DC was a hostler stand located at the rear of the locomotive, giving the engineer improved sightlines and control capability during reverse movements, though operation from this position was restricted to 10 miles per hour and required a dead man's switch to remain engaged. The units also originally carried two rooftop strobe lights flanking an emergency flasher, equipment that was removed during subsequent overhauls. The rebuilt and stimulus-funded P40DCs received prime mover modifications that raised output to approximately 4,250 horsepower, matching the later P42DC, and their gearing was adjusted to permit a top speed of 110 miles per hour rather than the original 103. However, the rebuilt P40DCs retained mechanical air brakes rather than adopting the electronic air brake systems fitted to the P42DC, a difference that made them best suited to single-locomotive train assignments.

Models by: Athearn