Amtrak P42DC, HEP startup DC

[@kansasstatealerting2874]

I love the way this startup sounds, such an iconic locomotive sound.

[@BobNewbie]

I will miss these sounds

[@jeffreysrailfanning2817]

Hopefully a couple of museums will preserve these p40s and p42s

[@BobNewbie]

@jeffreysrailfanning2817 Would be nice. Such an iconic design

[@MatthewC90]

I love how the engine sound grows to the iconic HEP hum these locos produce. It’ll be a shame once they’re gone.

[@D2Kprime]

They aren't going anywhere anytime soon. It'll be years before they are completely supplanted with the SC-44 and ALC-42 locos. Even still, regional rail companies will buy the stock and use them just like the do with the F40PH and F59PH locos. What's _really_ a threat to be gone are the F40PH cabbage units and regional locos once the P42DCs become available. 😕

[@shoobsey]

that woop sound, so freakin cool man

[@BobNewbie]

Yeah, gonna miss that once these are all gone

[@drp76]

The city is "Newport News", named after Captain Christopher Newport, one of the leaders of the Jamestown expeditions and settlement. Reputedly, his reports - "news" - inspired the naming of the city.

[@BritishRail60062]

I love these locomotives.

[@BobNewbie]

I'll miss them when theyre gone, their replacements are slowly rolling in

[@CaptainJustice166]

Great catch!

[@BobNewbie]

Thanks man, always giving feedback :)

[@CaptainJustice166]

Anytime!

[@mikechapmanmedia2291]

WOOOP!!

[@BobNewbie]

I’ll miss that sound :)

[@orionharmon6017]

Power up ✊🏽⚡⚡⚡

[@youdontknowme5969]

Screamer Mode activated 😉

[@arielvillalobos6637]

amtrak engine startup sound people like is at 0:16

[@DokiRailfanner92]

The Alc-42 and Sc-44 could never do this

[@collinlarsen7199]

what is hep mode

[@BobNewbie]

HEP stands for Head End Power (the power needed for AC, full lighting and toilets)

[@drp76]

Yes, exactly, and when supplying HEP the locomotive performing that must have its engine running at a constant 900 rpm so the AC can be 60 Hz. That's why the video is showing the engine being run up to that speed from idle after being attached to a train that came into DC pulled by an electric loco and continuing south with the diesel. Even at standstill, to provide HEP, the 900 rpm is needed. Traction power is then controlled strictly by varying the alternator excitation.

[@jamesshanks2614]

HEP provides 480 volts 3 phase 60 cycle power to the train for light, heat and air conditioning it also runs a battery charger on each car to charge each cars battery's that provide power for the end doors and marker lights at the end of each car though only the last car in the train has the red marker lights on. HEP replaced steam for heat and air conditioner and was much easier to use versus steam. The original Amfleet cars were the fleet that introduced HEP to Amtrak and we had problems with it that first winter, the E60 locomotive's used a rotary compressor with one motor driving the compressor, traction and equipment blowers off one motor and more often than not a seal on the compressor would fail and it would shut down the blower, compressor motor due to low oil. I was working a set of E-8's which were equipped with two diesel gensets for hep and when the train finally arrived at New Haven 5 hours late in February with a very cold train with 18 new Amfleet cars without heat for almost 6 hours. Outside temp at NH was 5 degrees. When the electricians gave me the ok to turn the power on it immediately tripped the main breaker on the panel that fed the train. Both generators were supposed to phase together but rarely would they both feed the train at the same time but I had noticed as the panel had a meter that showed me how many kilowatts the train was consuming and even with 18 cars it averaged 225 kilowatts, each generator as capable of 275 kilowatts. As usual the pthe generators wouldn't phase together so I had to feed the train with one generator. After it tripping the main breaker because of too much load I.E. All the cars wanted power, I called the conductor over to me after climbing off the engine and his first words were we still don't have power on the train. Then I explained I could only feed the train with one generator but I knew how to get power up on the train and told him get his crew together and shut off the hivac switch on every car then let me know when that was done and I could then put power on the train, after power came on the train take one member of your crew and have him walk from one end of the train to the other turning on the hivac on each car ( hivac stands for heat and air conditioning each car having two completely separate systems ) and by the time he got to the next car to turn it on the load from the previous car would have dropped as the heating elements got up to operating temperature. When I got the signal and closed the breaker it stayed in and the kilowatts meter showed a load of 250 kilowatts then started to drop and finally settled at 150 kilowatts and I could see each cars hivac coming online as the load would jump as it was turned on then slowly fall as everything warmed up. That became the defacto operating procedure to get HEP on a train over 9 cars in the winter or summer. Then we started receiving the F40PH-2 passenger locomotive's 200-229 which all had a 500 megawatt HEP generator to provide HEP. And unlike the P42's running at 900 rpm to supply HEP the F40PH-2's didn't turn 900 rpm. The governors were set to run at 893 RPM when providing HEP to the train. Amtrak wanted us to use 4 sets of HEP CABLES to hook up to a train and we quickly determined that was overkill and only used 2 sets of HEP cables as it was quicker to hook up and disconnect and still carried a 20 car trains power without any problems. I do believe they still do it that way today. With the first batch of F40PH-2's we still had the same problem of excessive power demand when first applying power to the train when the train exceeded 12 cars and the crew still had to shut off the hivac on each car but at least we figured ways to make it work. The P42's use an 1100 kilowatt HEP generator so the problem of withstanding the power surge when power is first applied was no longer a problem. EMD fixed it by going from a 500 kilowatt generator to a 700 kilowatt generator and Amtrak discovered even that size generator wasn't big enough hence the 1100 kilowatt HEP generator on the P42's. Amtrak discovered the smaller HEP generators were causing an average of 45 minutes to over an hour just to get HEP power on the train. So they went overkill with the P42 HEP generators. That cold day when I finally got power on the train? The generator was a Detroit 12V 71 series generator with dual exhaust on the roof of the locomotive and when I applied power to the train both stacks went solid blue smoke until the engine warmed up, within a minute you could barley see your hand in front of your face. I miss the old days.

[@MrManuel1329]

@@jamesshanks2614 thank you for explaining HEP! I will not find a better explanation for this system. Plus you worked on these trains so it makes an even more interesting read!

[@jamesshanks2614]

MrManuel1329 No problem and thanks for the compliment.

[@DolphinLegend-bg8ph]

2,700th viewer

[@BobNewbie]

DolphinLegend 64 Woohoo!!!!

[@collinlarsen7199]

oh I see thx