SULTAN, Wash. — The star-crossed first revenue round trip for Amtrak’s new ALC42 Charger locomotives has not gotten any better on the return leg from the Pacific Northwest.
Charger locomotives Nos. 301 and 302 led the eastbound Empire Builder out of Seattle on Saturday, but reports of continued positive train control issues with No. 301 led to the locomotives being reshuffled, putting No. 302 in the lead … in time to hit a pickup truck in a grade-crossing accident in Sultan, Wash., about 23 miles east of Everett. No injuries were reported, according to KIRO-TV.
The train, which was one hour, 26 minutes late leaving Everett, arrived at its next stop, Leavenworth, Wash., some 6 hours, 32 minutes late. By Sunday night, it was 7 hours, 55 minutes late leaving Havre, Mont.
Last week’s first westbound trip for the two new Chargers was marked by an Amtrak announcement of plans to purchase 50 additional locomotives from Siemens [see “Amtrak to purchase 50 more …,” Trains News Wire, Feb. 8, 2022]. The train was delayed more than an hour late leaving Chicago because of PTC issues, leading to the addition of a P42 locomotive at the front of the consists. It then fell further behind schedule when a fire in its Sightseer lounge car led to that car being removed in Milwaukee.
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