AMTK 822 on the Southwest Chief

[Yard Limit]

AMTK 822 is a GE P40DC built in 1993. The P40 series was built from 1993 to 1996 and the only other 800 series I've seen on Amtrak is 821. Additional deliveries of the P42DC ended up replacing the P40DCs. Three units had been wrecked (819 in the 1993 Big Bayou Canot train wreck and 807 and 829 in the 1999 Bourbonnais, Illinois, train accident) and scrapped. Eight were leased and later sold to the Connecticut DOT for Shore Line East in 2005, and four were rebuilt and sold to New Jersey Transit in 2007. The remaining 29 units were placed out-of-service for many years. 15 of these units have been rebuilt using 2009 ARRA stimulus funds and returned to service, now in the Phase V livery, except for 822, which is painted in Phase III Heritage livery for Amtrak's 40th Anniversary.
For Amtrak's 40th anniversary in 2011, four P42DC locomotives received a special version of Phase I through Phase IV paint schemes. From January through April 2011, Amtrak's Beech Grove Shops outside Indianapolis repainted the units and sent them north on the Hoosier State to Chicago, where they were cycled into regular service on other routes. The Anniversary locomotives were selected from units scheduled for repainting or recent wreck rebuilds. The first repainted locomotives was #145 in Phase III paint, which led the Capitol Limited on January 30, 2011. Three other locomotives followed: #156 in Phase I, #66 in Phase II, and #184 in Phase IV.
The 40th Anniversary Exhibit Train consisted of P40DC locomotive #822, NPCU #406, modified heritage sleeper Pacific Bend, three heritage baggage cars used as exhibit cars, and reconfigured Amfleet cafe car #85999. The whole train was painted in Phase III.
Also in this video is the Ocean View dome car deadheading to Beech Grove, IN. The Great Domes are a fleet of six streamlined dome lounge cars built by the Budd Company for the Great Northern Railway and Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad in 1955. The cars were used exclusively on the Empire Builder from their introduction in 1955 until the end of private passenger service in 1971. Amtrak retained all six cars and they continued to run on the Empire Builder before new Superliners displaced them at the end of the decade, after which they saw service elsewhere in the system. The Great Domes were similar in design to the Big Domes Budd built for the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway.

 

[Bill Anderson]

Does Amtrak still have all six Great Domes? Any idea what they are used for now?

 

[Yard Limit]

Good question. It looks like the Ocean View may be the only one remaining in service, but others may have more information.

From Wikipedia:
Amtrak acquired all six Great Domes from the Burlington Northern Railroad, successor to the Great Northern and CB&Q, on its startup in 1971. The Great Domes remained on the Empire Builder until October 28, 1979, when they and other single-level cars were displaced by Superliners and Hi-Level cars. Amtrak rebuilt three of the cars for head end power (HEP) and they remained on the roster into the 1990s on the Auto Train. Amtrak has retained one, Ocean View, as part of its business car fleet and for special use on regular routes, such as the Downeaster service during leaf peeping season.