F59PHIs in the Northeast (or NJ?)

I live in NJ but this weekend I was visiting relatives out on the West Coast and when riding Caltrain into San Fran. I got into a conversation with a local railfan about the F59's which Caltrain is using to supplement their F 40's . I mentioned that I don't think any of the Eastern lines use the f 59. He asked why not and I had to admit that I did not know. Does anyone know why NJT and Amtrak (which uses F59's on their Capitol Corridor Route) do not use these fine looking locomotives. Thanks

The F59 is to high for eastern clearances. it is even taller than the F40's

Does that also prevent the F59 from running into 30th Street Philly??? What are the clearances like their and along the corridor south of there......?

Thanks,
Steve

The F59 is 15 feet 9 or even higher, I believe. it would probably fit for size but only if overhead power were killed first. the F59 is same height as a superliner. see :
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=59304
The F40 is slightly lower than a superliner see:
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=59598

I think the F59PHI is a nice looking locomotive when mated with the cars it was designed to match in height. The Pacific Surfliners look pretty sharp. But with single level equipment, I actually think the F59's are quite ugly.

Anyway, Virginia Railway Express was using a couple of leased Sounder F59's for a while, but I don't know if they still are. North Carolina owns two F59PHI locos that it uses on the Charlotte - Raleigh "Piedmont".

Don't think Caltrain is using any F59s. Maybe they borrowed some at some point, but if so they're gone.

Caltrain's locomotives are either F40PH-2s, F40PH-2CATs, or the new MP36PH-3C which is sometimes mistaken for the F59PHI.

Also, I urge everyone to please note the differences between the F59PH and F59PHI, the latter being the "Starship".

F59PHIs do operate on the eastern seaboard in North Carolina, for North Carolina DOT.

The F59PHI is a whopping 15 feet 10 inches tall. That's two inches taller than the tallest F40PH, to be sure, but enough to make a difference.

Could you tell me or direct me to the differences between these two similar looking locomotives. From the ones Amtrak uses on the Capitol Corridor the Caltrain locomotives look very similar. Are they rated at the same horsepower, same dimensions etc. ? Thanks

Well, I woudln't be able to tell you all the differences, but the main one that I can remember off the top of my head, is that MP36PH-3C was newly built for Metra by M-K (who was trying to become a big time player in the locomotive market with this one) and there were multiple stories in "Trains" magazine about the new locomotives. Also, I don't remember specifically, but I belive the MP36PH-3C has F40 like shrouds, where as the F59PHI, does not. And of course, there are most likely a multitude of internal differences.

M-K (morrison-Knudsen has been out of rail business for few years now, the plant in Boise was puchased by M.P.I (motive power Industries) a Wabtec company, they are ones who built the MP36's

kevikens wrote:Could you tell me or direct me to the differences between these two similar looking locomotives.

Pretty much everything is different I think. They're two completely different types of locomotives, and I doubt they share many, if any, specific components. Only the general profile is somewhat similar.

Thanks, guys. When I saw the F 59's on the West Coast Amtrak trains and then the new locomotives on Caltrain I thought they looked so much alike that they were the same engines in different paint schemes. Do you know if they behave any differently in performance? Some of the stops on the S.F. -San Jose line are so close together I am thinking that the Caltrain locomotives are better at quick acceleration than the Amtrak units which made me think that they would have a practical application here for NJT commuter runs- if they would fit under the bridges and catenary. I wonder if Calytain chose them for that reason rather than acquiring surplus Amtrak F 40's. (?)

Erik wrote:MP36PH-3C was newly built for Metra by M-K

The Metra version of this locomotive is the MP36PH-3S. The major difference between Metra's version and Caltrain's version IIRC is that the 3S runs HEP off the prime-mover while the 3C uses a pony motor.

The F59 has a 12-cylinder 710 engine. People on forums have said the MP36s have some sort of 16-cylinder 645F3 engine (?) built by some GE affiliate (?) in Poland (?). Naturally this sounds unlikely, but...

If it is a 645F3, I wonder if it runs at 950 rpm. Doesn't sound like it.

950 rpm for what ? the HEP ?? not nessecary the HEP on the Metra MP36's is an Inverter , they do not need a specific amount of Hz for input , the AC is rectified before the 60 cycles are pput out by the inverter.