TS18: Amtrak’s Iconic EMD E8

One of America’s most stylish, famous, and iconic diesel locomotives – the Electro-Motive E8 – is now ready for Train Simulator service in two classic Amtrak liveries!

In our earlier Dovetail Live articles “Electro-Motive’s Elegant E” and “Coast to Coast Racehorse”, we introduced the Train Simulator Amtrak E8 and recounted the history of this truly notable American motive power. As a landmark locomotive of the postwar streamliner era in the U. S., the E8 was produced by Electro-Motive between 1949 and 1954, and nearly 500 of the passenger locomotives were purchased by 29 original buyers. The E8 derived its 2,250-horsepower per unit from a pair of EMD 567-series V-12 power plants, rode on an A1A-A1A wheel arrangement, and could be geared to operate at speeds up to 117 miles per hour. During its years of service for Amtrak, the E8 reached throughout the United States, serving on both the railroad’s long-distance trains as well as short-haul services. Amtrak operated its last E-units into the early 1980s.

Now, the classic Electro-Motive E8 has come to Train Simulator in two notable Amtrak liveries and in multiple variants. The Amtrak E8 is featured in both cab and booster configurations and is provided in Amtrak’s classic red-nosed “Phase I” livery and the stylishly striped “Phase II” scheme. The Amtrak E8 also is provided in single- and double-headlight versions and with- and without carbody portholes (representing the locomotive’s “as built” and “rebuilt” appearances).

Plus, there’s more! Accompanying the Amtrak E8 is a selection of five era-appropriate Amtrak passenger cars that are ideally suited to re-create the long- and short-haul Amtrak passenger trains of the 1970s and early 1980s. Included with the EMD E8 is an Amtrak baggage car, 48-seat coach, dome-coach, 10-6 sleeper, and diner – all outfitted in Amtrak’s Phase I passenger car livery.

The Amtrak EMD E8 pack features three career scenarios for the Miami-West Palm Beach route (route available separately) and provides Train Simulator’s Seaboard Coast Line General Electric U36B and SCL freight equipment to provide era-authentic freight traffic on the route. In addition to the Miami – West Palm Beach route, the new Amtrak E8 will be well-suited for use on a variety of Train Simulator’s popular U. S. routes and it, together with its accompanying passenger cars, will be excellent for creating many of Amtrak’s early-era passenger trains such as the Broadway Limited, San Francisco Zephyr, Empire Builder, and notable short-haul Amtrak trains such as the San Diegans.

Train Simulator’s Amtrak Electro-Motive E8 is now ready to highball – and is available at the Steam and Dovetail Games Stores! – Gary Dolzall ■