Well known to many railfans in the Northeastern United States, and a locomotive I hope to one day see in Train Sim World, the AEM-7 was the backbone of the Northeast Corridor from 1980 to 2016. Fast reliable and shaped like a box, these locomotives came at a time when Amtrak needed reliable power the most, and featured a long and successful service career on a wide range of passenger services. The 1970s proved to be a decade of concern and uncertainty on the Northeast Corridor. Primary power were aging GG1s, unreliable Metroliner EMUs, and newly arriving E60s which were prone to derailing at high speeds. Amtrak needed a reliable electric locomotive and fast. An Rc4 from Sweden, and a Class CC 21000 from France were leased by Amtrak and brought over to the United States for testing on American rails. Amtrak favored the Rc4 as it proved very capable of matching current timetables, and a design based on the locomotive was drawn up with a partnership between ASEA, EMD, and Budd as the builders of this new locomotive. The AEM-7 featured a top speed of 125 mph (200 km/h) and 7000 hp. The locomotives were very small compared to their predecessors, measuring in at 51ft 1in, and being almost half the weight of a GG1. The locomotives were placed on a wide variety of services, replacing the Metroliner EMUs with loco hauled amfleets on Metroliner services, and eventually becoming the primary power for all NEC and Keystone Corridor trains. Railfans grew a liking to the boxy locomotives, nicknaming them Meatballs for their Swedish heritage or Toasters as they resembled the kitchen appliance. A total of 54 units were produced for Amtrak, numbered 900 to 953. In addition, SEPTA also purchased 7 units, and MARC purchased 4 units. The first AEM-7 went into service in May of 1980 on a Metroliner Service. In 1999 Alstom rebuilt 29 AEM-7s into AEM-7AC for Amtrak to extend the service life and operate Regional Services on the newly electrified New Haven to Boston section. In 2010 Amtrak ordered 70 ACS-64 locomotives from Siemens to replace both the 30 year old AEM-7s and newer but unreliable HHP-8 locomotives. The first ACS-64 went into service in February of 2014 with the final unit being delivered in 2016. The final run of AEM-7s on Amtrak was on a farewell excursion in June of 2016. MARC retired their AEM-7s in 2017, and SEPTA in 2018. While most were scrapped, four Amtrak AEM-7s were preserved at various museums/heritage railroads. Another two were sold to Caltrain for catenary testing/MOW trains, but there doesn't seem to be any evidence of them running under their own power under Caltrain ownership. In addition to the AEM-7, ASEA also produced a very similar locomotive for NJ Transit, the ALP-44. While sharing the same horsepower and top speed, these locomotives feature subtle differences in cab and body design. A total of 32 were produced for NJ Transit entering service in 1990 and an additional 1 unit was produced for SEPTA. NJ Transit retired their units in 2012 with 1 being preserved, the rest are in storage. The SEPTA was retired in 2018 and scrapped. The AEM-7 was an incredible successful locomotive, and certainly made a positive impact on Northeastern US train travel. This would make it a great addition for Train Sim World! Currently there are two Northeast Corridor routes in the game (Boston to Providence, and New York to Trenton), the AEM-7 would make add on for these routes, subbing into timetable mode and adding some variety to the Amtrak power. Although both these routes are set in 2019, not many changes to the Northeast Corridor have taken place between 2014 and 2019. Additionally, the AEM-7 could be the primary locomotive for a future section of the NEC, such as New York to New Haven, or Washington to Baltimore, or even a Keystone Corridor route. These could represent the final years of the AEM-7 in Phase V paint, or even earlier versions with the iconic Phase III paint. Additionally the ALP-44 would make a great add on for a future NJ Transit route, working with older single level cars. Thank you for taking the time to read through this suggestion, and I hope to see this as future locomotive for Train Sim World.
Looks like you are trying to resurrect a train simulator classic locomotive scene on Northeast Corridor Philadelphia to New Haven route. The one we have is Trenton to Boston. Which is the route that I've been visiting frequently in Newark Penn rarely Metropark
Great write-up Mevans, I think this would make an excellent addition to the game, especially with preserved examples (non-running) being accessible within multiple museums. I actually had the opportunity to visit both an example of a NJT ALP and Amtrak AEM last year; it's sad to see them sidelined, but nice to see them preserved. For just the Amtrak units, in the Phase V paint scheme these would be right at home on both NY - Trenton and Boston Commuter with only a slightly back-dated timetable. That said, I would really enjoy these in a "Diesel Legends of the Great Western" style pack. For NY-Trenton: AEM-7 in the Phase III paint scheme with Amfleets in matching branding ALP-44 with a set of NJT Comet IV push-pull cars Bring back the SW1000 for some switching and MoW variety Some blue, non-branded "Conrail" reskinned freight units A set of scenarios and a timetable appropriate for the early 00's For Boston Commuter: AEM-7 in the Phase IV paint scheme with Amfleets in the Acela "lava lamp" scheme Reskinned F40 into an Amtrak unit to represent the lingering diesel services on the NEC Reskinned MBTA rolling stock for the earlier time period Bring back the SW1000 for some switching and MoW variety Some blue, non-branded "Conrail" reskinned freight units A set of scenarios and a timetable appropriate for the early 00's
A phase V aem-7 would be perfect for both NEC routes not much has changed on the New York-Trenton route so adding the Alp-44 pushing and pulling mixed comets would be great im all for this I also want to see them make the Arrow III for NYP to Trenton I have so many memories of the locomotives rode on many NJ Transit trains on the NEC to NYC half of them were push pull either by Alp-44s or Alp-46 and some were arrows but the Aem-7 ride was special it was on July 3rd,2001 going from New Brunswick to New York City it was pulled by 2 of them and mixed amfleet Is (not sure if it was the acela regional or clocker) but I say that ride was special because it was the first and sadly the only time I got to go to the top of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center
They should do every phase the Aem-7 was in and Amfleets phase III-VI because the Acela capstone scheme is considered to be phase V and the alp-44 should be made with Comets II-V
Very awesome! I hope to make it out to see 917 soon! I'm also loving the 90s/early 2000s pack idea. "Electric Legends of the East Coast"
If this locomotive does end up being made for TSW, I too hope they do multiple phases. Phase V is a better fit for the existing routes, but Phase III is so iconic, it would be sad to see it passed up.
