CHICAGO — A recent locomotive failure that stranded passengers on an Amtrak Wolverine train for more than five hours — mostly without light, air conditioning, or working toilets — was caused by a sensor problem that affects the fleet of 33 Siemens Charger SC44 locomotives used in Midwest state-supported service, according to a Michigan news report.
Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari confirmed the MLive report on the Aug. 15 incident was “generally accurate,” but refused to address “the level of detail” sought in a series of questions from Trains.com about specifics. Those questions include what the sensor involved does, how long Amtrak has been aware of the problem, measures being taken to address it, and whether there is a timeline to repair the locomotives. Magliari did say the problem is not considered a safety issue.
The MLive report quoted Magliari as saying that the locomotives will continue to operate until the sensors can be replaced, and that delays caused by the problem are not frequent.
The Charger locomotives — 4,400-hp units using a 16-cylinder Cummins QSK95 diesel engine — were built by Siemens in Sacramento, Calif., under a contract awarded in 2014, and entered service beginning in 2017. More details are included in this Illinois Department of Transportation fact sheet. The locomotives are used on routes of the Blue Water, Carl Sandburg/Illinois Zephyr, Hiawatha, Illini/Saluki, Lincoln Service, Missouri River Runner, Pere Marquette, and Wolverine, accounting for 18 daily round trips across five states.
There are several variants of the Charger locomotives. SC44s are also used by operators including the Washington State Department of Transportation, for Amtrak Cascades service; Caltrans, for state-supported Amtrak service in California; and commuter operators Altamont Corridor Express (San Francisco Bay Area), Coaster (San Diego area), and MARC (Maryland).
Trains.com has contacted some of those operators to see if they are aware of or have experienced the sensor issue. WSDOT spokeswoman Janet Maslin said the agency has not experienced “ongoing issues with our Charger locomotives being stranded” and that as of today, seven of the eight locomotives are in service. She referred other questions to Amtrak, which provides maintenance for the WSDOT units. Trains.com is awaiting responses from others.
The Midwest Chargers share the same vintage as those at MARC, California and Brightline. They all shared factory floor space. Thus far no word on this from the other operators.