By Daniel Garcia
Revised by James Bow
Streamline Comes Back in Style (Sort of)
In 1977, as GO Transit contemplated further expansion of the network, they decided the time had come to purchase more locomotives. The GP40s had performed admirably, so GO looked again to General Motors for the next pieces of equipment.
By this time, however, a new locomotive had come on the market. The F40PH was designed by General Motors for Amtrak to upgrade their rag-tag fleet and provide a more unified look. The F40 was designed to be a lightweight, speedy locomotive based on the GP40, but modified with a cowl (full-width) body. The engine was the same 16-cylinder 645E as the GP40 and the locomotive included the Dash-2 electrics of the later models of the series.
Amtrak had also asked that an HEP generator be included in the engine, to reduce equipment costs. However, the HEP generator sucked power from the main diesel engine. So, while a dedicated engine was theoretically capable of offering 3,000 horsepower, only 2,400 turned out to be available for the train. Still, the F40PH proved popular with Amtrak and, by 1984, they owned a fleet of 210 units.
Underpowered Screamers
In 1978, GO Transit took delivery of six F40PHs, numbered 510-515. However, GO found that while the equipment may have been good enough for Amtrak’s shorter, lighter trains, they were hard-pressed to pull GO’s long line of bilevel cars through rush hour service. The horsepower requirements for the trains, combined with the power leeched by the HEP generators required GO’s F40PHs to run at full power almost all of the time. As a result, the F40PHs were “affectionately” referred to as “Screamers”, “Thunder Liners” and “Thunder Wagons” by crew members.
When the higher-powered F59PHs came on the market, GO jumped at the chance to purchase these vehicles, and GO’s six F40PHs were retired in 1988, after just ten years of service, and ahead of the older GP40-2Ls. They remained on GO property until 1990 when they were sold to Amtrak to be renumbered 410-415. Amtrak also rebuilt the vehicles, adding dynamic brakes.
F40PH Series Locomotives Image Archive
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GO Transit F40 locomotive #510 waits in a yard before entering service in this August 1978 shot. The photographer is unknown. |
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GO Transit GMDD F40PH #510 sitting at Pickering Station in July, 1983. Photo by Bill Carr, from the collection of Dan Garcia. |
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A Lakeshore GO train led by F40 locomotive #511 heads eastbound, approaching Sunnyside in this November 1987 shot. The photographer is unknown. |
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The F40PHs were still running while the Skydome (now the Rogers Centre) was being built in 1988. Here, Unit 512 leads a train of Bilevels past construction into Union Station. Photo donated from the Daniel Garcia collection. |
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GO Transit F40 locomotive #512 rests at Willowbrook on April 22, 1989. The photographer is unknown. |
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GO Transit GMDD F40PH #513 pulling an eastbound train past Port Credit Station in July, 1981. Photo by Bill Carr, from the collection of Daniel Garcia. |
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A GO Train, led by F40PH locomotive #515 heads west along the CN main line to Brantford, past Dundas Mountain near Highway 8 on a special excursion on December 26, 1979. The photographer is unknown. |
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The F40PHs were a precursor of the more modern F59 series locomotives, but attempts were still made to design a more streamlined appearance from the typical GPs. Photo donated from the collection of Daniel Garcia. |
