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,
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.
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,
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.
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,
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.
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.
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.)
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.
Good point, I hadn't considered fuel. Coach quantity I had and didn't see a problem there.
'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.
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.