Amtrak’s HHP8’s return!

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David Collins
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Amtrak’s HHP8’s return!

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You read that right! They have returned, one of the most flawed electric locomotives of all time has returned, but not in a way any of us railfans expected.

One of my friends that lives on the NEC spotted #691 parked at south station in Boston, but, it didn’t have its pantographs (I’ll include a photo that my friend posted on discord), therefore, the rumors are true that the Metroliner Cab Car’s are now reaching the end of their life-span, according to an engineer buddy of mine, these’ll be around for awhile since no one offers new cab cars these days.
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DaveO
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Re: Amtrak’s HHP8’s return!

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David Collins wrote:
Wed Dec 08, 2021 4:02 pm
these’ll be around for awhile since no one offers new cab cars these days.
Maybe better to say no one offers cab cars that Amtrak would want.
Commuter rail has seen some over the recent years.

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kd_1014
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Re: Amtrak’s HHP8’s return!

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What do these have anything to do with cab cars

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Re: Amtrak’s HHP8’s return!

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kd_1014 wrote:
Tue Dec 14, 2021 1:59 pm
What do these have anything to do with cab cars
The electric motors and pantographs were removed so now in a sense they’re cab cars. The metroliner cab cars are starting to be retired, and the HHP-8’s are so unreliable that Amtrak decided to rip the engine blocks out.
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Re: Amtrak’s HHP8’s return!

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David Collins wrote:
Tue Dec 14, 2021 2:03 pm
The electric motors and pantographs were removed so now in a sense they’re cab cars. The metroliner cab cars are starting to be retired, and the HHP-8’s are so unreliable that Amtrak decided to rip the engine blocks out.
Well, they're electrics, so they didn't rip out any engine blocks :lol:

More than likely, they probably kept all of the guts and just removed the traction motors and pans. The old interiors aren't worth much above scrap, and they'll want the weight for good tracking purposes.
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Re: Amtrak’s HHP8’s return!

Unread post by David Collins »

These units have now joined the F40 NPCU number group, the first unit, #90691, former 691, former 655 (?), was ferried to Boston the other day on an equipment move.

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