Letting Off Steam- No Pun intended

[Green_Elite_Cab]

G.E.C.---hope these pictures cheer you up,taken last year on a holiday in France---not a diesel or steam engine in sight :o

Very much appreciated! In particular, that second locomotive (the one photo left above) is VERY similar to the X996. Back during the late 1970s, Amtrak was searching for a new electric locomotive, as it was displeased with General Electric's E60CP/E60CH locomotives. Two locomotives visited the US in full Amtrak paint, an RC4 numbered X995 in 1976, and a French "CC 21003", numbered X996 in 1977. The CC 210003 was apparently already a very successful locomotive in France, and so it was tried here. Both locomotives were rebuilt to American power and standard requirements. After all this work, the X996 went from 126 pounds to 133 pounds.

The X996's stay on the Northeast Corridor was VERY brief. In the end, the suspension was two stiff for Amtrak's liking. French rails were maintained at a higher level than the Northeast corridor had been. Amtrak had little time and even less funding to fix the NEC, which had been falling apart under the Penn Central railroad until April 1st when the NEC was sold to Amtrak in the Conrail merger. The French test personel were aware of this, but no adjustment was found to relieve the problem of the stiff suspension.

Meanwhile, the RC4 had no problem on American rails, so it was chosen instead. The X996 eventually went back to France and was rebuilt back to it's original french specifications, and still rolls on French Rails today, so far as i can tell.

Here is a photo i found of the X996 Still in France before its test run in the United States. Imagine how different the NEC would look if these engines were chosen instead of the RC4?