Amtrak's AEM-7 Electric LocomotiveThe Amtrak AEM-7 electric locomotive resulted from a test the passenger carrier did on French and Swedish models. After several tests Amtrak was pleased with the Swedish Rc4 and would eventually settle on it as a basis for what would become its AEM-7. The new electric locomotive model was built by EMD in the early 1980s and allowed Amtrak to retire the rest of its GG1 fleet and unsuccessful E60s. Today, most of these high-speed motors are still in operation on Amtrak’s system up and down the Northeast Corridor.
When Amtrak began it used private equipment donated by the participating railroads (although, it should be noted, that not all of the major Class Is, at that time, elected to join Amtrak) and while it was originally setup to become financially self-supporting this was completely an illusion (passenger railroading, is, again, almost never profitable and requires some sort of subsidy to operate). In its first year Amtrak earned $163 million with expenses of $310 million. By 1980 things were not much better as the carrier saw $454 million in revenues and $1.08 billion in expenses. Regardless of all of the problems during its early years and the claims by critics that it is a waste of taxpayer money and should be eliminated, travel by train is not only a very needed transportation artery but also continues to receive public support year after year. And, even though a statute expired in 2002 ensuring annual funding for Amtrak, public support has continued and Congress overwhelmingly continues to provide funding for the carrier.
Today ridership numbers for Amtrak have broken 25 million and as transportation issues are becoming more of a discussion in our country passenger railroading is gaining more and more support and its future looks very good. In the early 1980s Amtrak was looking for a new high-speed electric locomotive to not only replace the rest of its outdated GG1s but also retire its E60s, which turned out to be a big disappointment (a poor design of its trucks precluded it from operating at speeds over 85 mph). So, after being pleased with tests done on a Swedish Rc4, the most successful electric locomotive design at the time, Amtrak contracted with EMD to build a fleet of 54 passenger electrics dubbed AEM-7s. These motors used the latest in electric locomotive technology featuring thyristor motor control and traction motors that provided maximum power without wheel slip. The Amtrak’s AEM-7 was noticeably more powerful and heavily built than the Swedish models, partly due to design mandates by the Federal Railroad Administration. The AEM-7 could easily cruise over 100 mph on the NEC and could deliver a whopping 7,000 hp with over 53,000 pounds of tractive effort. Today, the AEM-7 fleet continues to provide daily commuter service duties for Amtrak, along with the South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) and Maryland Rail Commuter (MARC) which also both own a small fleet of the motors.
Another book that covers modern electric locomotives like the AEM-7 is Locomotives: The Modern Diesel and Electric Reference by author Greg McDonnell. Mr. McDonnell's book is much larger in scope than Solomon's Electric Locomotives, covering newer electrics (and diesels) on nearly 250 pages which are packed full with excellent photography, illustrations, and diagrams. The book has received superb reviews by readers and is perhaps the best current work out there covering the topic. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing either (or both) of these books please visit the links below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.
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