Amtrak Debuts ‘Pepsi Can’ P42 Livery

An artist rendering of the Phase III Dash 8 heritage livery.

Amtrak debuted its sixth and final locomotive that celebrates the carrier’s 50^th anniversary.

P42DC No. 160 has the modified Phase III livery that was applied in 1991 to P32-8BWH locomotives and dubbed by some railfans as the “Pepsi Can” scheme because of its resemblance to the design of the beverage can at the time.

The 160 made its initial trip on the point of the Capitol Limited from Chicago to Washington and has since pulled Eastern corridor trains out of Washington.

The “Pepsi Can” look was unique to the P32 units, which saw a lot of service in Midwest Corridors. All of those units have since been repainted into Phase IV and Phase V liveries.

Amtrak’s P32s today are primarly used for trailing unit and switching duties. They are seldom seen leading trains.

Earlier this year Amtrak applied its 50^th anniversary herald to P42 No. 46, which otherwise retains its Phase V blue and silver livery.

Other P42 units given 50^th anniversary treatments include the 161, which wears a Phase I livery and the 108, which is adorned with a modified version of the Phase VI livery.

Another 50^th anniversary unit is P42 No. 100, which wears a one-off “Midnight Blue” livery of a predominately dark blue carbody with red and white stripes as well as the 50^th anniversary herald and slogan.

That unit was described by Amtrak as a tribute to its employees who work its overnight long distance trains.

Amtrak has said the Phase VI livery is a transitional look being applied to eight Siemens ALC-42 Chargers the carrier will take delivery of through 2024. Deliveries are expected to be at a pace of two locomotives per month.

The first of the new Chargers, No. 300, is currently undergoing testing and has yet to be released for duty in revenue service.

The difference between the liveries on the 300 versus the 108 is that the latter lacks the red chevron stripe at the back of the carbody of the 300.

Amtrak has said having the blue on the carbody of the Phase VI livery end at a red chevron is meant to harken back to the similar mark that was part of the Phase I livery.

The second ALC-42, No. 301, wears a one-off “Day One” livery that replicates a scheme applied to one Penn Central E8A used in first day ceremonies on May 1, 1971.

The “Day One” E8A continued in revenue service in that look for several months before being repainted into the then-standard Phase I “pointless arrow” scheme that is replicated on P42 No. 161.

Still to come is the Phase VIII livery that most of the ALC-42 locomotives will wear. In time the ALC-42 will become Amtrak’s standard motive power in the national network, replacing the P42s.

Still plying the rails are a handful of Amtrak heritage units repainted in 2011 for Amtrak’s 40^th anniversary. These include units in Phase II, Phase III and Phase IV schemes.

Tags: Amtrak, Amtrak 50th anniversary, Amtrak 50th anniversary locomotives, Amtrak ALC-42, Amtrak motive power, Siemens Charger locomotives