The GE P30CH (also nicknamed "Pooch" because of the similarity of the designation) was one of the first brand-new Diesel-electric locomotives built for Amtrak in the company's early years. The design was based on the GE U30C, but had a cowl carbody like its EMD competitors.
25 P30CHs were ordered by Amtrak in 1974, just after Amtrak ordered 40 EMD SDP40Fs in 1973. Unlike the SDP40F, the P30CH was the first Amtrak locomotive built from the factory to offer HEP (Head End Power).
The six axle P30CHs, which cost Amtrak $480,000 each, were plagued with mechanical problems and were never very popular with crews or Amtrak management. Amtrak shifted preference, and began purchasing in quantity the EMD F40PH in 1976. Some P30CHs were assigned by Amtrak to the Shenandoah route, which ran via Parkersburg, West Virginia, to Cincinnati, Ohio. A number were leased in the late 1970s to the Southern Pacific Railroad where they were used in San Francisco-San Jose, California Peninsula Commute service. In the later years of their Amtrak careers, the locomotives were used regularly into the mid-1980s on the Sunset Limited and Auto Train routes. They had their final runs in late 1992. All were subsequently scrapped; none were preserved.
Read more about GE P30CH: Roster Table