CHICAGO—Non-powered control unit 90200 isn’t just any former locomotive that lost its prime mover and traction motors when converted to a glorified baggage car with cab controls. Seen here outside Amtrak’s Chicago locomotive shop on June 2, 2022, coupled to an Illinois-owned Siemens SC-44 Charger, the carbody once was number 200. It is the first of a 30-unit class of 4-axle EMD F40s, delivered in 1976, which ushered in an era of reliably-powered Amtrak trains for more than two decades. According to “Amtrak by the Numbers” authors David C. Warner and Elbert Simon, 22 of the more than 300 F40s built by the General Motors subsidiary exchanged innards for ballast as a part of their conversion. These “cabbage” cars continue to be mainstays on Maine’s Downeaster and Amtrak Cascades state-supported regionals in the Pacific Northwest, but have been utilized less and less in recent years on Midwest routes out of Chicago. Their “retirement job” will be complete once new Siemens-built trainsets with cab cars arrive in several years.
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