Just received notice that 'up to 17 AEM7's are offered for sale'

http://biggsappraisal.com/AEM7AC

"These units are in exceptionally good condition and have many years of reliable life remaining to operate in front line service. They are at an Amtrak shop at Wilmington, DE. Biggs Appraisal is the exclusive re-marketer of these units. The owner is very motivated."

(italics added)

Randy, talk about a universally usable locomotive for the average tourist line!

But seriously, at least they are being made available. I wonder if any are being held in reserve by Amtrak?

Of the 17 supposedly for sale, 13 are in the photos linked to that look like we might safely say still exist at Wilmington Shops for sale. They are:

905
908
917
918
919
920
921
924
927
929
935
938
941

No clue as to which ones the other four are, although Farewell Special lead unit 942 does not appear to be accounted for, so it could be one of them, as Farewell Special trailing unit 946 recently went to the DOT facility in Colorado.

If anyone with the inclination and the $$$ to do so would, picking out one that has been altered the least (which might make it cheaper to acquire) and retro-fitting it to be more as-delivered in appearance would make for a very desirable display unit.

Would be nice if IRM acquired one to go with its GG1 and E33 (and Little Joe). Any ideas on price?

I'm not sure you ever get the passion for an AEM7 that you would for other power, no matter the performance or reputation.

I could have cared less - until I rode a northbound Silver (Meteor? Star?) out of Washington DC in the early morning hours about 1998 and it just romped with a train of Amcoaches and I was right behind the unit in a Viewliner sleeper. Wow, what a ride. Opinion changed.

They are the Rodney Dangerfield of power. At least one has been saved at Strasburg.

http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPi ... id=4360334

If you're tuning into the Alstom high-speed new trainsets due in 2020 or so, the next shock may be a full Acela set for your museum.... keep those display tracks coming.

I've got to believe they've had almost no takers for them to end up on an auction site instead of direct sale to one of the NEC's commuter agencies, but you never know.

Amtrak (reportedly) charges excessively high rates for electricity usage on the NEC. The days of MARC or NJT piggybacking onto an electric loco order, or even picking these up, are apparently gone.

I'm not sure MARC would take these if they were transferred for $1 each.

New Jersey Transit has stored all their ALP-44 (Close to an AEM-7) locomotives as of 2012 when newer locomotives arrived. Those are all still stored. So no need for Amtrak's retired units.

Earlier this year they were being stored on the newly-installed Lackawanna Cutoff west of Port Morris Jct., which should be high enough to escape a storm surge a la Sandy. The photographer notes that they were being "trashed by vandals". Paul Buckley photo from the Lackawanna Cutoff Historical Committee closed Facebook page.