I would always love to see these in TSW3. They first came out in the early 1980s, as a locomotive that is small, but can still pull very well, hence the 7 in there. They came with a boxy like design, and you can see those waves of stainless steel on the exterior of the locomotive. They reached about 125mph, nice speeds back then in US style. The used a Nathan K5LA horn. A lot of them have been scrapped nowadays, but some of them have been preserved. It was sad to see these be replaced by the ACS-64, the common locomotive you see now on the NEC. But if DTG ever decided to make this in TSW3, it could come in a classic DLC. One with not only the AEM-7, but maybe also the old metroliners could be here in a classic early 1980s pack. Amfleets were still highly used back then. Nowadays they're being replaced by Siemens Venture passenger cars. All of this equipment can be used in phases 1, 2, and 3. I would only see this on New York Trenton because in 1980, the electrification didn't exist between New Haven and Boston. So only for Trenton this could be added on. All of this is 20 years before the Acela existed.
I believe some of them were built as early as the late 70's, being based off the design of the Swedish RC4 locomotives that are still used today (and leading to one of its nicknames, "Swedish Meatball"). The -7 refers to the 7,000HP rating, almost double what the GG1s had. They were able to run the fast trains on the corridor reliably (as opposed to the Metroliner EMUs they phased out) and could even handle the heavy long distance trains typically hauled by E60s. As far as paint schemes go, they ran Phase III, IV, and V before being retired. These units had a good run, and about half were rebuilt with AC traction equipment which prolonged their life cycle even further. Amtrak, SEPTA, and MARC all ran AEM-7 fleets, and NJT ran the ALP-44 which was based off the same design with different electrical equipment (SEPTA also had one example). The AEM-7s outlived the E60s, Metroliner EMUs (although the cab car rebuilds are still in service), and HHP-8s. MARC retired theirs in favor of focusing on their diesel fleet and rebuilding their HHP-8's, and SEPTA retired theirs when they tacked on to Amtrak's ACS order. Today Caltrain has two units meant to test their electrification once complete, and two are preserved in museums in Illinois and Pennsylvania. The rest are being scrapped or are going to be scrapped. If running on the Trenton route it would be nice to see it in Phase III paired with an NJT ALP-44 and Comet set for period-accurate operations. I once proposed an AEM-7 DLC for Boston Commuter. I think pairing an AEM-7 in Phase V paint with an HHP-8 for a DLC based in the early 2000's would do very well. Both units exist in TSC and are quite fun to operate.
History.Amtrak has a great write up on these units, with some awesome photos... https://history.amtrak.com/blogs/blog/farewell-to-the-aem-7 Here's some photos from Wikimedia Commons for our friends that may be unfamiliar with these units... As-delivered Phase III paint Phase V paint And here's one of the Caltrain units AmtrakGuy365 also has a very well done video on these units as part of his Engines of Amtrak series
Assuming Trenton got its fix and Boston's timetable got an overall then yes I'd purchase this as loco addon
