SEPTA Fan 235 wrote:Several ex- AEM-7ACs are for sale. Is it possible that when the diesels are moved to the Hartford line, AEM-7ACs could be used with ex NJT comets being phased out aswell? However, if the AEM-7ACs aren't purchased soon, they'll go to scrap.
No. No, no, no. This gets brought up time and again for both SLE and the MBTA Providence Line, time and again with the AEM-7's, and time and again with NJT's stored ALP-44's. These agencies don't have the in-house expertise to maintain old push-pull electrics, and Amtrak is not going to gift them a service & support contract for battered old bodies with dwindling parts supply. The AEM-7's are pretty thoroughly cooked. That's why Amtrak's only been able to scramble a few working Remans for SEPTA.
SLE's going to run M8's. The only question is when does it start running M8's, and whether it'll just M8's to Old Saybrook for the first few years while the sparser New London schedule lingers on with the diesel excess the starter Hartford Line schedule won't need until several years of scale-up later. Nothing else, and definitely nobody else's old electric refuse.