My kids love trains and I must admit I’m a fan as well. On weekends I always try to take them to the train yard. We sit in the car and wait for the trains and locomotives to go by. It’s the main Amtrak train yard, so there are plenty of Amtrak cars and engines – long haul GE Geneses, and many shunting locomotives. Every once in a while we see coaches all the way from California, or some vintage carriages.

In the summer the boys were ecstatic because we spotted a locomotive that endured a collision. From what I could find, a truck carrying oil field pipe ran into the eastbound Empire Builder in early December, 2013 at a rural grade crossing near Motley, Minnesota, and took out locomotive #90. It was sitting on a siding for several months, awaiting repair. Kids were disappointed when it finally disappeared.

Amtrak engine #90 after head-on collision, patiently awaiting repair.

This past weekend was a very exciting day. Adrian noticed a brand new, electric Amtrak locomotive being push around the yard. It was quite a surprise, considering the fact Amtrak mid-western lines are not electrified. Something didn’t quite add up. Adrian right away recognized it as Siemens ACS-64. He’s very familiar with it, since I bought him a wooden version for the National Train Day. We watched the locomotive roll right by us. Indeed it was Amtrak Cities Sprinter (ACS-64) manufactured by Siemens. I did some quick googling to discover that they get assembled in Sacramento, California and Chicago is one of the stops on their way to the East Coast. The locomotives hitch a ride on the California Zephyr to Chicago and then on the Capitol Limited from Chicago to the Wilmington, DE. ACS-64 is slowly going to replace the toasters that currently serve the electrified lines of the eastern corridor.

Needless to say, we were quite lucky that day 🙂

ACS-64 rolling through Chicago Amtrak train yard

ACS-64 being coupled to P42DC

Siemens ACS-64 with clean brakes

Siemens ACS-64

Amtrak #635 with Sears Tower in the background