The General Electric E60 Electric Locomotive

Today, Amtrak (officially known as the National Railroad Passenger Corporation) and passenger rail, as a whole, are stronger than ever and increasingly gaining support as oil prices soar and we look for cleaner and more efficient ways to travel. Since 2000 when the Amtrak introduced high-speed Acela service (and more trains/routes in general) along its Northeast Corridor growth for the carrier has become much more prominent. Since 2002 Amtrak has broken annual ridership records and just in July of 2007 it was reported that ridership was up 9% over the 2006 numbers up to that time.

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.

The GE E60 model, a double-ended design, was built for Amtrak in the early/mid-1970s to replace its aging fleet of electrics handed to it from Penn Central, mostly in the way of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s venerable GG1s. The E60s were powerful locomotives capable of producing 6,000 horsepower and 75,000 pounds of starting tractive effort (which is where its name is derived; Electric, 6,000 hp). Two versions of the E60 would ultimately be built, one classified as an E60CP, which featured a steam generator for older passenger equipment Amtrak operated and the E60CH, which was equipped with the more modern head-end electric power for heat and electricity.

In all, Amtrak owned a fleet of 26 E60 electrics although the motors had a relatively short service life. The passenger carrier was never truly pleased with the E60s and sought another more efficient and effective electric to serve its North East Corridor territory. The railroad would eventually settle on the AEM-7 model in the early 1980s, which was a design quite similar to a Swedish Rc4 electric. With the arrival of these new motors in 1984, after just a little over ten years in service Amtrak parked most of its E60 fleet. Eventually twelve of these locomotives were sold to two other railroads, New Jersey Transit and the Navajo Mining Railroad. Those fourteen that remained were reclassified as E60MAs (the MA stood for Motor Alternating) and operated for almost another 20 years before being retired in 2003.

To learn more about Amtrak consider the book below from author Brian Solomon entitled Amtrak. Mr. Solomon's book gives an excellent general history of the carrier since its start up in 1971. The book is filled with information and pictures so if you have an interest in Amtrak or are interested in learning more about the carrier you certainly won't be disappointed in Mr. Solomon’s book.

Also or more reading about the Amtrak’s E60 electrics and other electrics consider Electric Locomotives from Brian Solomon. Not only does the book give a nice overview about the Amtrak's electrified operations it also covers American electric locomotive technology in general.