AEM7 Disposition (and other motors - HHP8)

gregorygrice wrote:

ACeInTheHole wrote:

amtrakhogger wrote:They are taking AEM7's and HHP8's out of service on a one for one basis as the ACS-64's are released for service.

What is the progress on the cab car testing? We only have so long until that becomes an issue.

All of the refurbished cab cars work fine with the ACS's. But only half of them have been refurbished.

Ah, so its just a matter of the remans still work, keep them there for flexibility purposes until all the cabs can be redone?

I think you need to have the ECP brake cars in between the ACS and the cab car for it all to work correctly.

The remans are not going anywhere anytime soon. If anyone's been past Wilmington you will notice that the DC motors that have been stored there also have not gone away yet. While the ACS has worked out fairly well so far I dont think the level of confidence is up to par. if the 614 has been any example so far....

ApproachMedium wrote:I think you need to have the ECP brake cars in between the ACS and the cab car for it all to work correctly.

The remans are not going anywhere anytime soon. If anyone's been past Wilmington you will notice that the DC motors that have been stored there also have not gone away yet. While the ACS has worked out fairly well so far I dont think the level of confidence is up to par. if the 614 has been any example so far....

throw the 612 under that bus while youre at it

Was 908 retired after the collision in Boston?

908 does not appear to have been officially retired yet. 654 is officially out of the game. that leaves us with only two HHPs left.

#655 will be leading train #171 out of Boston tmmw as long as the rotation remains the same overnight...get the camera's ready!

#651 leading A181(14).

Personally I've had no problems with the 614 or 612. And I've had them both a couple times recently.

So where we stand so far is the 901 is officially out, all other AC units are still available for service. 902, 950, 951 are def out and 910, 952 and 953 are all off to the side for now. Assuming that they removed the traction motors from the 953 id imagine its not going anywhere anytime soon.

So that leaves us with 8 AEM-7s off the rails for now, assuming they repair the 908 or they use its parts to get the 901 back on the road again then it would be only 7. At the speed these new ACSs will be coming now its going to be a quick drop after the new year for the old engines to start going away.

So how are they actually disposing of these motors? Stripping the AEM-7s for parts at Wilmington, then moving them to the Bear dead line for scrapping? Are they just storing HHP-8s, returning them, or scrapping those as well?

khecht wrote:So how are they actually disposing of these motors? Stripping the AEM-7s for parts at Wilmington, then moving them to the Bear dead line for scrapping? Are they just storing HHP-8s, returning them, or scrapping those as well?

Hippos can't get stripped for anything. Bombardier owns them; Amtrak is lease-only.

Unless AEM-7 parts are in dire need for active units, too early to be stripping/scrapping anything. Amtrak usually holds stuff for quite awhile before it takes "terminal" action on equipment. Parting out a unit isn't time-sensitive stuff, and these shops have way too much time-sensitive stuff to do on a daily basis. They're not in any hurry.

One of SEPTA's AEM-7s failed yesterday.

http://www.septa.org/service/message-to ... iders.html
A Message for West Trenton Line Riders
Train #6325 is a very popular trip on the West Trenton Line because this early morning express service can get customers into Center City in about 1 hour. So it was not surprising that approximately 700 customers were on this 6 car, push-pull train this morning. Unfortunately, at 8:10 a.m. this regular trip turned into a major delay and inconvenience when the train stopped on the tracks just north of Rydal Station.
Two unsuccessful attempts to reset the engine and the pantograph made it clear we had a mechanical problem. Because the push-pull trains operate using one engine the Control Center, train crew, and maintenance crew quickly determined that our immediate course of action needed to be a plan to get customers off the stalled train and on to alternate SEPTA service...
...Our mechanical maintenance crews do everything possible to ensure that our fleet is ready for the service day, but the AEM7 locomotive have seen many thousands of hours of service. We don't have an exact diagnosis yet, but we know the issue was mechanical.
These locomotives are part of our vehicle renewal and replacement program. Act 89 funding will make it possible to advance the procurement of new locomotive but that will take time to complete. That is not an excuse for this morning -- we know we really ruined people's plans and schedules. We will continue to work hard to keep these cars running reliably while we plan for the future of the SEPTA Regional Rail fleet.

SEPTA will probably be much more interested in buying some AEM7ACs now.

jackintosh11 wrote:One of SEPTA's AEM-7s failed yesterday.

SEPTA will probably be much more interested in buying some AEM7ACs now.

I was surprised they didn't snag any of NJ Transit's ALP-44s but yeah, seems they could make use of some additional electric power.

Was the 652 on A141(16) or was it a typo somewhere??

srock1028 wrote:Was the 652 on A141(16) or was it a typo somewhere??

Typo, 652 has been stored for a while now.

The HHP-8s when stored have to have all missing parts recorded, and if possible the missing parts replaced with any bad spares and recorded as such. Since there are very few spare parts for HHPs any locos with good parts get exchanged when one of the operating units needs a component. If there is a major failure that exceeds X amount of repair dollars the engine is automatically taken out for good. Same if it reaches any major overhaul timeline. All units get stored in Bear DE until their ultimate fate of either scrapping or return to Bombardier.

AEM-7s get taken out and left in Wilmington shops to sit around until they are needed for service or spare parts. Wilmington can quickly get a part off and on to a northbound or southbound train at that location which is why none are stored in bear.