Amtrak Photo Archive
an unofficial Amtrak site

the P30CH - the early GE's

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Built by GE in 1975-1976, these 3000hp units were numbered 700-724.
All have been scrapped.

  P30CH  Location & Information  Date Photo Credit
700  Washington DC
700 and 701 left the Erie PA
GE Plant August 16, 1975 and were delivered
(via Penn Central) to
Philadelphia on August 18, 1975		  August 1976  Dick Leonhardt
700  Newport News VA  August 1977  Dick Leonhardt
700  San Francisco CA August 19, 1978 Neil Lang
700  Houston TX
eastbound Sunset Ltd at
"infamous" SP Englewood yard		  December 1990  Gary Morris
700  Houston TX
eastbound Sunset Ltd		  December 1990  Gary Morris
700  Richmond VA July 6, 1977 Ed Betz
700  Washington DC March 1984  from the
collection of
JL Hunt
 701  Chicago IL  July 16, 1976  M. Abalos
701  Chicago IL Sept 4,1976 from the
collection of
Jim Hebner
701 Philadelphia PA 
30th Street Station		  unknown from the
collection of
Joseph Testagrose
  702 California  May 1979 John Black
  702 California  May 1979 John Black
702  Bayshore CA unknown  from the
collection of
Joseph Testagrose
 702  unknown  unknown  from the
collection of
Albert Phleep
  703 San Jose CA  May 1979 John Black
703  New Iberia LA
The SP New Orleans-Houston Sunset Route did a little street running in
New Iberia as the Sunset is headed west.
New Iberia is about 122 miles west of New Orleans.		 July 1982 Gary Morris
704  Denver CO June 3, 1979 John Tudek
704  Chicago IL March 6, 1976 Paul Hunnel
704    unknown  
705  Juliet IL  unknown  
  705 San Jose CA July 29, 1978 John Black
705  Bayshore CA  1978  Joseph Testagrose
706  Newport News VA  June 1977  Dick Leonhardt
707  Richmond VA  June 1977  Dick Leonhardt
707  Richmond VA  Nov 3, 1977  Dick Leonhardt
707  Washington DC  Nov 3, 1977  Dick Leonhardt
707  east of Parkersburg, WV
on the Shenandoah, #34		  Summer 1977  GR Harper
  707 Santa Clara CA  July 29, 1978 John Black
707  Sunnyvale CA  August 1978  from the
collection of
Joseph Testagrose
708 San Jose CA Aug 12 , 1978 John Black
708      
708  Joliet IL  March 16, 1977  from the
collection of
Albert Phleep
709  Chicago IL  April 1976  Joseph Testagrose
710      George Elwood

 
 Washington DC
November 14, 1976
 Joseph Testagrose
 
 711
 
711 leading a detoured James Whitcomb Riley (now, The Cardinal) through Williamson VA. A derailment on the C&O forced the train onto the N&W. Those N&W cars to the right were brought in by the N&W to house and feed the train crews following the disastrous Flood of April 5, 1977, in the Tug Valley. The normal hotel facility, The Mountaineer Hotel, was out of commission.
 spring of 1977
 Garland R. Harper
Santa Jose CA
Aug 12, 1978
John Black
 Washington DC
 May 1979
  Joseph Testagrose
 Richmond VA
 August 1977
 Dick Leonhardt
 
 712

 Richmond VA

note the strobes mounted on
the nose

 August 1977
 Dick Leonhardt
 712
 Newport News VA
 August 1977
 Dick Leonhardt
713
 Joliet IL
delivered November 22, 1975 less than a month old in this shot!
 Dec 21, 1975
 Paul Hunell
 Newport News VA
 December 1976
 Dick Leonhardt
 713
 Newport News VA
 December 1976
 Dick Leonhardt
Eagle Lake TX
eastbound Sunset Limited passes
SP Tower 115
June 1980? 
Gary Morris 
 East of Parkersburg, WV
on The Shenandoah
 Summer 1977
Garland R. Harper
 715
 Jack VA
During the first few months of the Hilltopper's existence,
the train was hauled backwards by an RF&P engine from AY Tower at the south end of Acca Yard to Collier Yard just south of Petersburg, and vice versa. Here, the wb Hilltopper is waiting at the signal to leave the connection track between the SCL at Collier and the N&W main.
June 1977 
Garland R. Harper
 715
 This is 715 on the nb Colonial at the south end of Acca Yard in Richmond.
February 1977
Garland R. Harper
Centralia IL
train 391
Sept 23, 1978
John Picarelli
 Norfolk VA
 June 1977
 Dick Leonhardt
 716
 Arlington VA
 September 1977
 Dick Leonhardt
 Dallas TX
Union Station
 
 716
San Francisco CA
July 29, 1978
John Black
 717
1979-09-24_Chicago, IL.jpg
 Sept 24, 1979
 Nice winter shot!
.
717
 Picacho Peak AZ
on Train 2
 August 15, 1981
 Dick Campbell
 Newport News VA
 April 1977
 Dick Leonhardt
 
 718
 #66, The Hilltopper, is getting
ready to be hauled backwards by
an RF&P GP from Collier Yard,
near Petersburg, VA, to AY Tower
at the south end of Acca Yard in Richmond. #66, a northbound train, when coming off the NW-SCL connection at Collier was pointing south. The train was hauled
backwards to Richmond, where #66 turned on the wye at AY Tower. This procedure lasted for several months until Amtrak spent
tens... maybe HUNDREDS of
thousands of dollars to rebuild the NW - SCL connection in downtown Petersburg. After that,
#66 went downtown and made a
left turn to get onto the SCL.
 GR Harper
 San Francisco CA
September 28, 1978
from the
collection of
Jim Hebner
 Chicago IL
 September 19,1980
 Jim Shepard
 New Orleans LA
 Feb 1976
 Bill Hakkarinen
 719
 Joliet IL
 July 14, 1977
 from the
collection of
Albert Phleep

 Chicago IL
 February 7, 1976
George Horna
 Norfolk VA
June 1977
 Dick Leonhardt
 Chicago IL
March 18, 1976
 George Horna
 Last run - Norfolk VA
 June 1977
 Dick Leonhardt
 Arlington VA
 September 1977
 Dick Leonhardt
 Champaign IL
 April 28, 1978
 Tim Wells
 Champaign IL
April 27, 1978
Curt Fortenberry
 Irondale CO
 Jan 19, 1980
 from the
collection of
Jim Hebner
 Chicago IL
 from the
collection of
Joseph Testagrose
 
 Yellow Sulphur, VA
Another detoured Hilltopper #66 photo. on the ex-Virginian, now the Whitethorne District of the N&W. We are waiting for a recrew. The train is stopped. Notice the open trap door right behind the engine.
 October 1977
 GRHarper
 
 724 
The day before
these shots were made, CSX derailed a train at Elm City, NC which shut down he A Line (Atlantic Coast Line) just south of Rocky Mount. As luck would have it, CSX had just started pulling up the old Seaboard Air Line main which had paralled the A line about 60 miles west. In order to get the passenger trains north around the mess, they had to route them thusly: A Line to Dillon, SC West to Hamlet, NC on SAL line to Charleston, SC North from Hamlet to Raleigh, NC on the remains of the Seaboard
At Raleigh, connect to the old Norfolk Southern main line and head east - this crossed the A line at Wilson, still south of Elm City
NS to Greenville, NC, thence north from Greenville to Parmele NC on an ex ACL branch At Parmele, turn back west via Tarboro NC to Rocky Mt and back on the A line.
 May 12, 1987
 Craig Zeni

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This archive was first access August 1996

Updated May 6, 2020