Autotrain throws it into notch 8! 

Me too especially phase III

same

Youre not kidding about the grime, those Auto Carriers were downright dingy! I agree this era Amtrak was pretty interesting, more variety in equipment.

One of my favorite Amtrak locomotives

It's one of my favorite Amtrak locomotives

Chicago has one active ex-Amtrak f40 and 100+ more f40s still in service on metra.

Thy still do my friend. Come watch some via rail trains up here in Canada, they use a ton of f40s

Yeah if you can get lucky with them. Not to many exist on the RR commuter anymore unfortunately.

I said the same thing those used to be my favorite car sad they don’t have them nomore!

Not really, if you remember correctly, Amtrak inherited all kinds of dome cars from all the railroads that had them.

They inherited some of those dome cars from the auto train I think. I don't know how many though.

The notches were used like any other diesel electric. As you stated, the prime mover in an F40 ran continuously at 900 rpm to provide stable frequency HEP. The notches simply varied main generator excitation to change the amount of current sent to the traction motors.

Nope in HEP only mode they ran slower and they could run normeal but with no HEP.

Yep, they were called screamers for a reason.

If i remember correctly, the F40PH locomotives prime mover did run at a constant rpm, but it wasnt just to provide HEP, it was experimental to be environmental friendly, which did work to a certain extent. There were not any throttle "notches" involved, as the track speed was controlled similar to a model train, by using a large rheostat, instead of the so-called "notches". Some F40s made their way to the Iowa Northern Railway, where they were repainted and modified to run normally, and they were paired with "road slugs" due to the larger alternator/generator that was formerly used for HEP. And with the IANR being acquired by CN, it will be interesting to see if they keep those F40/slug pairs.

Only one of the F40s (trailing, most likely) can deliver HEP at any given time because they do not have the ability to synchronize the alternators. The two other diesels operated as normal with different engine speeds per notch. HEP modes are selected with a separate rotary switch and the turning the switch to one or the other only checks for a closed HEP circuit before setting the locomotive up to deliver HEP. Locomotives are not permanently in HEP mode as you imply. There is no "large rheostat." In normal HEP mode, the prime mover runs at throttle notch 8, full speed, with traction power being regulated by adjusting the excitation of the main alternator with the load regulator- which is a rather small rheostat. The HEP generator is a different assembly from the main alternator. The only time the main alternator provides head end power is in layover mode. In this mode, the diesel engine runs at a slower speed to produce 60hz from the traction alternator. This is used during long stops to save fuel and this ability persists through the GE P42DCs. Slugs do not require bigger traction generators. The control system will only apply as much power as the diesel engine can provide, thus not overloading the generator. You only share that current between more motors, reducing the power produced by each electric motor- reducing slip tendencies.

Those superliner cars look good though and that’s what I grew up with

Continuously since 1983. A private operator ran a similar service on the same route 1974-1981.

Amtrak has been running the Auto Train since 1983. They inherited it from the Auto-Train Corporation, which began the service in 1971, and ended when they went bankrupt in 1981.

Amtrak used GP40s on the Auto train for awhile and the City of New Orleans for a bit.

thats not an h-3... thats a standard leaser gp40...

cookode Also at this point they were still GP40TCs.

Yeah they leased some GP40s from Helm in the early 90s, they were numbered in the 650s. Didn't they have HEP run-thru cables but no HEP generators?

Adam M your exactly right

You make it sound as if that's no longer the case, which is incorrect.

@ConrailFan76 How so? I understand meal service is pretty much going the way of airline food systemwide now.

@ConrailFan76 Whoa, I did not know that. That was back when SCL ran it, right?

@ConrailFan76 Ah, OK. Thanks.

Petersburg, virginia. Along the CSX A-line. This was shot in bumper paradise, the parking lot that a lot of railfans wait at to look on both the CSX and the lower NS line.

Auto Train With F40's and gp40p.

3 engines; 19 passenger cars; 22 auto-racks [yes, I counted them as the train passed]

They were in a high rev. The notch refers to the amps it's pulling. But yeah, those things were loud as shit, and going from Idle to 8 in an F40 sounded like this: RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!

More correct to say the FP40s are at max rpm all the time, but load on them varies with throttle. Like a propeller aircraft with a constant speed prop. Pitch changes but engine speed is constant.

@@oneastrails Better explanation than mine.

Head End Power. Power for the passenger cars was generated in the locomotive (the Head End). Back in the old days, heat for the passenger cars was made by a steam generator and traveled down the length of the train via a steam pipe. The steam pipes were prone to freezing in really cold weather which meant that any car after the freeze in the steam pipe would not get any heat. HEP was a major upgrade to passenger service.

yeah it is idk what notch you think its in but she's straight to 8 and go