The Northeast Regional is a fast Amtrak train in the
northeast corridor between Boston and Washington DC. There is daily
all-reserved service nearly every hour, with more trains running from New York
City to Washington than run north to Boston. The Regional makes only certain
stops and thus is distinct from slower local trains. The train takes about
7.5-8 hours to travel from Washington to Boston. Amtrak owns the tracks and
these trains are Amtrak’s most profitable. Branches
powered by diesels extend to Springfield, Massachusetts and south of Washington
DC to Richmond, Newport News, Norfolk, and Lynchburg, Virginia.
After
the “blue splotch” paint scheme used on the Acela Regional between 2000 and 2003,
the Amfleet cars were repainted in the then standard
phase IV scheme with a large blue band and red and white pinstripes. In the
late 2000s, the Amtrak “wave” logo was added to the blue band, and to the
locomotives somewhat earlier. Start dates when the various phases of paint
schemes began are usually well documented, but the delay in repainting old cars
adds uncertainty and variability to the appearance of trains. A set of photos
of actual trains will help in duplicating a certain era. To update this train
for its post-2009 appearance, use phase IVb (VI) cars
with the “wave” logo.
The
most common electric locomotive in the northeast corridor is the AEM-7 built by
Asea-EMD (see prototype photo below). Amtrak acquired
about 53 AEM-7s in the 1980s. Less common (14 were bought in 2000-2001 from
Bombardier) is the HHP-8, which is streamlined with a slant nose like the Acela
locomotive. Unfortunately, a model of the AEM-7 is not made in N-scale, but
Bachmann makes a model of the HHP-8.
Trains usually have 6-10 cars with the business class car in
the front and the café car somewhere in the middle. The coaches were rebuilt Amfleet I cars (two doors per side), originally built by
the Budd company in 1975. Amfleet II cars (one door
per side) were acquired starting in 1981, though many of the amfleet II coaches are configured for long distance trains.
Coaches can also have their chairs configured for long or short distance.
Trains had a mixture of the two coach types, but this model train has only Amfleet I cars made by Bachmann. Amfleet
II cars (made by Kato) in the same phase IV paint scheme could also be used.
A
Northeast regional train in northern New Jersey in 2005. The locomotive is an AEM-7 in the
phase V paint scheme with the wave logo added in the early 2000s. The coaches
and cafes are Amfleet cars in phase IV or IVb (VI) paint, the latter if they have a wave logo.
An
HHP-8 electric locomotive leading the Silver Star at Wilmington, Deleware, on May 13, 2006. Although this is not the Northeast
Regional, it shows an HHP-8 after the Acela logo was removed and cars in phase
IV livery in the same epoch as the model train. Photo by
David Warner.
Alternate
power used north of Boston or south of Washington DC
The diesel power used outside the
electrified northeast corridor is most commonly a P42 like this Kato model in
phase IV paint.
Northeast
Regional, the whole train
The HHP-8 locomotive in this train pulls a string of 6 Amfleet I coaches and an Amfleet
I café car. The HHP-8 model is made by Bachmann as are
the Amfleet cars. After the 2003 start date of this
train, the Acela logo was removed from the prototype fleet, but I left the logo
on my model. Bachmann made the “coach” and “café” lettering too large, but the
interior lighting is bright and reliable. I added body-mounted Microtrains couplers to the coaches.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northeast_Regional
Solomon, Brian, Amtrak, MBI Railroad Color History, MBI publishing, 2004.
Amtrak by the numbers, by David Warner and Elbert Simon, White River productions, 2011. An excellent guide with thorough car histories and hundreds of photographs.
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