Second AEM-7 preserved

The Illinois Railway Museum has announced today that it has acquired Amtrak 945, an AEM-7 mainline electric locomotive built in 1982 by Electro-Motive using components manufactured in Sweden. The locomotive was retired in 2015 and has been sitting in storage in the northeast since then but was moved to Chicago in February. It's not at Union yet; although it's off Amtrak property it is being held pending movement to IRM's site. The locomotive is not intended for operation, given that it is designed for 11,000-volt AC operation and it would be virtually impossible to adapt it for even limited operation on the museum's 600-volt DC overhead. This is the second AEM-7 preserved; number 915 was acquired by the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in 2015 straight out of service. And it's the fourth electric locomotive preserved that was built for Amtrak, preceded by older E60 type locomotives 603 and 958.