page_title: EMD AEM-7
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: EMD AEM-7 / History
caption_attribution_description: SEPTA AEM7 #2301, entering Temple University.
context_page_description: The AEM-7 is a twin-cab four-axle 7,000 hp B-B electric locomotive built by Electro-Motive Division and ASEA between 1978 and 1988. The locomotive was a derivative of the Swedish SJ Rc4 designed for passenger service in the United States. The primary customer was Amtrak, which bought 54 for use on the Northeast Corridor and Keystone Corridor. Two commuter operators, MARC and SEPTA, also purchased locomotives, for a total of 65.
  Amtrak ordered the AEM-7 after the failure of the GE E60 locomotive. The first locomotives entered service in 1980 and were an immediate success, ending a decade of uncertainty on the Northeast Corridor. In the late 1990s, Amtrak rebuilt 29 of its locomotives from DC to AC traction. The locomotives continued operating through the arrival of the final Siemens ACS-64 in June 2016. MARC retired its fleet in April 2017 in favor of Siemens Chargers, and SEPTA retired all seven of its AEM-7s in November 2018 in favor of ACS-64s.
context_section_description: Amtrak planned a fleet of 53 locomotives, with an estimated cost of $137.5 million. Limited funding hampered that plan, but in September 1977 Amtrak proceeded with a plan to buy 30 locomotives for $77.8 million. Five companies bid on the contract: General Motors' Electro-Motive Division (EMD)/ASEA, Morrison-Knudsen/Alstom, Brown Boveri, Siemens-Krauss-Maffei, and AEG-Telefunken-Krauss-Maffei. Amtrak awarded the contract to EMD/ASEA in January 1978. It ordered 17 more locomotives in February 1980, bringing the total to 47.
  Revenue service began on May 9, 1980, when No. 901 departed Washington Union Station with a Metroliner service. The Swedish influence led to the nickname "Meatball", after Swedish meatballs. Railfans nicknamed the boxy locomotives "toasters". Between 1980 and 1982, 47 AEM-7s (Nos. 900–946) went into service. Amtrak retired the last of its PRR GG1s on May 1, 1981, while most of the GE E60s were sold to other operators. The new locomotives swiftly proved themselves; Car and Locomotive Cyclopedia stated that no new locomotive since the New York Central Hudson had "such an impact on speeds and schedule performance."
  This strong performance led to further orders. Amtrak added seven more locomotives in 1987, delivered in 1988, for a total of 54. Two commuter operators in the Northeast ordered AEM-7s. MARC ordered four in 1986 for use on its Penn Line service on the Northeast Corridor between Washington, D.C. and Perryville, Maryland. The Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) ordered seven in 1987. Amtrak also used the AEM-7s to handle the Keystone Service on the Keystone Corridor between Harrisburg and Philadelphia as the Budd Metroliners, displaced from the Northeast Corridor, reached the end of their service lives.
caption: SEPTA AEM-7 No. 2301 entering Temple University
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