F40PH

The F40PH is a diesel locomotive originally made for Amtrak in 1975.

 Background 
When started in 1971, Amtrak was given many old locomotives. These came from railroads who used to operate passenger trains. More modern models were kept by freight or commuter railroads.

To replace them, Amtrak ordered 150  locomotives. These entered service in 1973. These were later helped by 25  in 1975. The SDP40F was a troubled design. Problems with its weight balance cause it to come off the tracks very often. The P30CH's poor truck design was the reason no more of these were built.

 History 
On May 8, 1975, Amtrak ordered the first 30 F40PHs. The first of these entered service on April 9, 1976. They were initially intended for short routes.

However, in the winter of 1976-77, a  hit America hard. This put Amtrak's steam-heated passenger cars out of service. In place of them, the F40PH and the new  passenger cars were put on long-distance runs.

In the spring of 1977, 40 SDP40Fs were returned to EMD. Parts of these were used to create 40 more F40PHs, known as the F40PHR. They had a bigger fuel tank, and a more powerful head-end power generator.

In this process, a total of 132 F40PHRs were created. In addition, Amtrak bought six more F40PHs from GO Transit in 1990. These, combined with new orders from EMD, brought the total number of locomotives owned by Amtrak to 216.

Starting in 1991, Amtrak began replacing its F40PHs with more up-to-date models. The last of the F40PHs were retired by 2001, once the delivery of  locomotives was complete.

 Notes 

 Sources 



 Other websites 

 EMD F40PH Data Sheet
 Via Rail EMD F40PH-2D Operator's Manual (in French)

Category:Locomotives