The GE Dash 8-32BWH, also known as the P32-8WH or B32-8WH, is a modern passenger train locomotive used by Amtrak. It is based on GE's Dash 8 series of freight train locomotives.
Twenty of these locomotives were delivered to Amtrak in 1991 and numbered 500 through 519. They were nicknamed "Pepsi Cans" by many railfans, due to being delivered in a wide-striped red, white, and blue livery. They have since been repainted in more recent Amtrak liveries.
The Dash 8-32BWH operates in a diesel-electric configuration that uses DC to power the traction motors, producing 3,200 hp (2,400 kW) at 1047 rpm. When providing head end power to the train, the engine is speed locked to 900 rpm. Power output to the traction motors is 2,700 hp (2,000 kW) when running in HEP mode with a 0 kW HEP load. Traction horsepower decreases to a bare minimum of 1,685 hp (1,257 kW) when providing the maximum 800 kW (1,100 hp) HEP load to the train.
Today, the Dash 8-32BWH has been relegated to yard switching (mainly in Los Angeles, Oakland, Chicago, and Miami) and transfer service, displaced by the newer and more powerful GE Genesis, but the Dash 8s occasionally substitute for the Genesis units if necessary and Pacific Surfliner units as well during Del Mar Horse Racing Season. They are usually used in the west coast for the Coast Starlight, Pacific Surfliner, San Joaquin, Capital Corridor and Cascades trains.
Two of the locomotives, 501 and 502, were purchased by the California Department of Transportation and renumbered 2051 and 2052, and received the Amtrak California paint scheme. They are used on the Capitol Corridor, San Joaquin trains.
Several Dash 8s in "Pepsi can" paint were featured in "There Goes a Train".
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