History
In the mid-1970s. Amtrak began to look for a successor to the Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 electric locomotive and ordered 26 General Electric E60 units. Unfortunately, the E60s proved unable to safely achieve speeds over 90 MPH leaving Amtrak without a practical replacement for the GG1. Amtrak then turned to existing European high-speed designs. Two European locomotives were brought over for a series of trials in 1977. One was a French CC 21000 class given number X996, and the other was a Swedish Rc4, X995. Amtrak favored the Swedish design, which became the base for the AEM-7. Amtrak first ordered 30 AEM-7s in 1977 (Order Number: 776073), then ordered an additional 17 AEM-7s in 1980 (Order Number: 806004).
Read more about this topic: EMD AEM-7
Famous quotes containing the word history:
“One classic American landscape haunts all of American literature. It is a picture of Eden, perceived at the instant of history when corruption has just begun to set in. The serpent has shown his scaly head in the undergrowth. The apple gleams on the tree. The old drama of the Fall is ready to start all over again.”
—Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)
“These anyway might think it was important
That human history should not be shortened.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“There is no history of how bad became better.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)