Illinois Zephyr
Jun 17, 2019 21:34:38 #
The "Illinois Zephyr" is an Amtrak train underwritten by the State. Recently when I was in Chicagoland I saw the current incarnation of that train, pulled by one of the new diesel locomotives manufactured by Siemens,
Jun 17, 2019 22:07:54 #
Jun 17, 2019 22:17:40 #
Jun 18, 2019 00:05:49 #
Dave327 wrote:
Nice shot! The Siemens is beautiful loco.
I like it much better than the GE units they've been using the past twenty years or so.
I must admit I wasn't sure what I was looking at as it approached the station; fortunately, my instincts took over and took photos for me to study afterwards.
Jun 18, 2019 06:31:07 #
rehess wrote:
The "Illinois Zephyr" is an Amtrak train underwritten by the State. Recently when I was in Chicagoland I saw the current incarnation of that train, pulled by one of the new diesel locomotives manufactured by Siemens,
Nice shot.
Jun 18, 2019 07:48:08 #
Jun 18, 2019 09:06:43 #
Jun 18, 2019 09:16:32 #
trainspotter wrote:
Great post....hard to get one of the loco's to stand still.
In this case, it took my Pentax KP then some cropping in gimp.
The train must have been going 50 mph thru the suburbs.
At first I thought it was a commuter train {you can see a distant headlight just left of the signal bridge} but the pure white LED headlights {instead of yellowish} and speed told me this was something special.
Jun 19, 2019 18:08:37 #
Jun 20, 2019 13:16:44 #
rehess wrote:
The "Illinois Zephyr" is an Amtrak train underwritten by the State. Recently when I was in Chicagoland I saw the current incarnation of that train, pulled by one of the new diesel locomotives manufactured by Siemens,
Nice catch!!
Jul 4, 2019 14:14:48 #
Jul 7, 2019 06:39:36 #
Why are American Units so BIG, especially for such a relatively small train. Just curious.
I could understand if it was used to pull one of the massive freight loads.
I could understand if it was used to pull one of the massive freight loads.
Jul 7, 2019 08:22:44 #
John N wrote:
Why are American Units so BIG, especially for such a relatively small train. Just curious.
I could understand if it was used to pull one of the massive freight loads.
I could understand if it was used to pull one of the massive freight loads.
That engines next assignment might have 3 times as many coaches to pull. Our engines also need to carry a large amount of fuel. (Long stretches between fuel stops.)
Jul 7, 2019 11:49:03 #
Rich1939 wrote:
That engines next assignment might have 3 times as many coaches to pull. Our engines also need to carry a large amount of fuel. (Long stretches between fuel stops.)
Good point, I hadn't considered fuel. Coach quantity I had and didn't see a problem there.
Jul 7, 2019 16:19:40 #
John N wrote:
'Tractive effort' {pulling power} depends on number of powered axles; these locomotives have just four of them, so they aren't as powerful as you might think. Good point, I hadn't considered fuel. Coach quantity I had and didn't see a problem there.
Amtrak covers all routes with just a few different types of locomotives, so I'm guessing they've figured out a compromise design that is adequate for both short runs like this and the old Santa Fe route from Chicago to Los Angeles through Raton Pass.
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