AC/DC
Hooking up to the northbound Silver Meteor, HHP-8 #659 is seen amongst the gaunt and glassless metalwork of Union station in Washington DC on 2 October 2008.
Don't know the thoughts of some of the other Stateside photters from the UK, but my mindset is moving towards writing off any hope of a trip in 2021. President Biden indicates some hope of normalcy by Christmas, and PM Boris ummm..., well I'm not exactly sure what he thinks. But to be fair, the chances are he doesn't either.
I'm not totally writing it off just yet, maybe possibly perhaps late autumn might just happen. But it isn't looking good.
Whatever, I certainly won't be enjoying a razz behind an Amtrak HHP-8 again. Despite being little more than a decade into service at the time of this picture, the 15 tri-voltage, 135mph Amtrak units were pulled from service by 2014, the company citing poor reliability, and replaced by new-build Siemens ACS-64 units. Stored since that time, the owners of the locomotives, Phillip Morris Capital, sued Amtrak in 2019 for nearly $100 million, alleging incorrect maintenance schedules, incorrect storage and removal of parts from at least eight of the stored units.
I can't find any reference to an outcome using the Google-bot, I'd guess that the case is ongoing. The Google-bot however clearly shows sattelite imagery of the locomotives parked up at Wilmington and Bear DE, in open storage and without pantographs.
A further six HHP-8's were constructed for MARC, the Maryland commuter system, these continue in service after refurbishment from 2017.
UK viewers, think class 90 on steroids...
AC/DC
Hooking up to the northbound Silver Meteor, HHP-8 #659 is seen amongst the gaunt and glassless metalwork of Union station in Washington DC on 2 October 2008.
Don't know the thoughts of some of the other Stateside photters from the UK, but my mindset is moving towards writing off any hope of a trip in 2021. President Biden indicates some hope of normalcy by Christmas, and PM Boris ummm..., well I'm not exactly sure what he thinks. But to be fair, the chances are he doesn't either.
I'm not totally writing it off just yet, maybe possibly perhaps late autumn might just happen. But it isn't looking good.
Whatever, I certainly won't be enjoying a razz behind an Amtrak HHP-8 again. Despite being little more than a decade into service at the time of this picture, the 15 tri-voltage, 135mph Amtrak units were pulled from service by 2014, the company citing poor reliability, and replaced by new-build Siemens ACS-64 units. Stored since that time, the owners of the locomotives, Phillip Morris Capital, sued Amtrak in 2019 for nearly $100 million, alleging incorrect maintenance schedules, incorrect storage and removal of parts from at least eight of the stored units.
I can't find any reference to an outcome using the Google-bot, I'd guess that the case is ongoing. The Google-bot however clearly shows sattelite imagery of the locomotives parked up at Wilmington and Bear DE, in open storage and without pantographs.
A further six HHP-8's were constructed for MARC, the Maryland commuter system, these continue in service after refurbishment from 2017.
UK viewers, think class 90 on steroids...