Comments on: Amtrak Cascades train 517, the 6:35am departure from Vancouver BC’s Pacific Central station is leaving station track at Burrard Inlet Junction. Note the faded STOP sign for trains at this critical pair of switches. F59PHi AMTK 466 in the latest Amtrak Cascades scheme merges well with Talgo Pendular Series 6 coach set “Mt. Olympus”. When Cascades trains began running with Talgo coach sets, an F59PHi was the usual type of locomotive on these trains. A similarly painted NPCU was typical at the other end for push-pull operation (NPCU = Non-Powered Control Unit, an ex-F40PH). As the F59PHi’s accumulated mileage and aged their reliability decreased. Substitutions became common, sometimes with locomotives at both ends just-in-case. On this run AMTK 466 has been trusted as sole tractive power for the train. In late June 2018 the usual locomotive I saw on Amtrak Cascades trains in Vancouver was a new Siemens SC-44 Charger.

By: jp4pix

jp4pix — Fri, 03 Aug 2018 16:08:18 +0000

At the other end of the train is NPCU AMTK 90250 in Seattle Seahawks colour scheme – http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=34124