AEM-7 Electric w/Proto-Sound 3.0 - 3-Rail - Premier(R) -- Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority SEPTA (silver, blue, red)

With the demise of the Pennsylvania Railroad in 1968 and the near-death of American passenger trains around the same time, the market for electric engines dried up. Designing new electric locomotives became a lost art in the United States. Not so in Europe, however, where overhead wires were the dominant source of motive power, and virtually every country had a thriving national passenger carrier. It was no wonder then that Amtrak turned to Europe in 1977 for a replacement for its aging fleet of ex-Pennsy GG1 locomotives - after an earlier effort, the General Electric E60, had been a bust. In a contest reminiscent of the 1934 competition between General Electric and Baldwin-Westinghouse designs that spawned the GG1, Amtrak imported a Swedish and a French electric to vie for the title of the G's successor. The four-axle Swedish design proved more suited to American track than its 6-axle French rival, and Amtrak placed an initial order for 30 locomotives. Trucks and el