PL42AC thread

[Jamshid]

Latest photos, (10/29/2004)
4006 HORNELL, NY READY FOR PAINT. ©BILL DURHAM
4010 HORNELL, NY. OCTOBER 29, 2004.©JEFF LUBCHANSKY

[Irish Chieftain]

I'm taking the liberty of putting Mr. Lubchansky's photo on display in the forum. IMHO, the lines of the loco are rather sharp and the computer simulations don't do them justice. And yes, the looks outdo the vaunted F59PHI, also IMHO...

[nick11a]

Wow, cool. They do indeed look sharp. I can't wait to see them in paint and in action! Where is the horn located? Perhaps Alstom put it on top by the ventilation ducts or wherever the BLE Ergo committe requested they put it. And I hope the horns on these have been calibrated to be louder than than the setting found on most Comet Vs and on most of the ALPs.

[BigDell]

It does look much better than the computer sim, I have to agree. To me its changed from being Butt-Ugly to Simply Unattractive and Uninspired. But I'll wait for the first painted units. Maybe they'll find some way to enhance the errr...uhhhh..."shape" .... of this thing.
BigDell

[BigDell]

So... the visibility really is that much better in this thing? Just looking at the window layout and what looks like a bit of a blind spot in the corners (not that anyone is making any hard right turns....).
I guess the front view must be nice, though, elevated as it is...

I'd love to sit in the fireman's seat... NJT should have a raffle for cab rides!

(somewhere out there Disgruntled Railfan is frowning... :-)

[dave76]

To me its not a bad looking unit, except that pilot is ugly, no streamlining here, also the trucks are just hidious. In my opinion to look better, I would put Bloombergs on, streamline that pilot,and mostly the lower half of the loco. It just looks too typical of the ugly Euro locomotives.

[thebigc]

To me its not a bad looking unit, except that pilot is ugly, no streamlining here, also the trucks are just hidious. In my opinion to look better, I would put Bloombergs on, streamline that pilot,and mostly the lower half of the loco. It just looks too typical of the ugly Euro locomotives.

Nice ideas, I suppose, but just not practical. All those receptacles and outlets on the front are necessary items. The four red outlets are for 480v HEP. The two orange and black 27 pin MU receptacles are for door control and traction, in push mode. The four beige or off-white outlets I think are for a new type of HEP connection NJT is working on. The C5 and C2r coaches have them too.

As long as they're reliable, looks don't really matter.

[Sirsonic]

The two small white receptacles are for the DTN system, which will replace both the communications and traction jumpers. It will also no longer require cars to all face in the same direction so that the jumper recptacles are on the same side. Coaches only have one on either side, and so must all face the same way for the jumpers to connect properly.

Only one of the two white receptacles is used. The other is just used to hold the free end of an unused cable, and is named after me -- dummy.

[GandyDancer]

To me its not a bad looking unit, except that pilot is ugly, no streamlining here, also the trucks are just hidious. In my opinion to look better, I would put Bloombergs on, streamline that pilot,and mostly the lower half of the loco. It just looks too typical of the ugly Euro locomotives.

Won't there be a flip-up cowling to cover the pilot up like the Acelas?

[Irish Chieftain]

Regarding the final look of the pilot, look below...

[hsr_fan]

It's weird that the cab roof is a totally separate piece from the rest of the body. Does this thing have ejection seats or something? I wonder if they'll fill in that gap between those two sections.

[Zeke]

Maybe that gap around the cab is part of that Isolation or Quiet cab deal. That snow plow looks awfully high off the top of the rail to be of any use when the Hostiles place shopping carts in the gauge around Garwood. Well, I am sure NJT mechanical forces will make the usual 10,000 modifications !

[DutchRailnut]

The cab is a seperate box mounted on vibration pads to islolate the cab from locomotive noise and vibration.

[sullivan1985]

I think this is a rather intresting new toy for New Jersey... Hope to see them slowing in for stops at rutherford in the near few months...

[GandyDancer]

I just figured out what bothered me about its appearance when I saw the early renderings - too many competing lines/shades in the paint on the front of the unit. The unpainted unit looks less busy and the monotone primer makes the angular shape less severe.

Painting 'em up in heritage colors might do the trick. I think that puppy would look just fine in LV red and black or either Brunswick green or Tuscan red with gold pinstripes.