Jchillin wrote:Genesis are in fact used for the Lakeshore Limited, a service that runs from NY Penn to Chicago. This service runs in the opposite direction of the North River Tunnels and is not in tunnel for very long as it runs north via the West side of Manhattan in an open cut.
Actually, the locomotives used on the Lakeshore Limited are P32s, which are Genesis units, and don't appear very different to the P42s (so in-game, the P42 is pretty close). The P32s have a third rail shoe that they use for the first mile or so out of Penn station until they can switch their diesel engines on. These engines are used on the LSL until it reaches Albany where the P32s are swapped for P42s coming in on the Boston branch of the LSL. The P32s are also used on the Adirondak, Ethan Allan, and Empire service trains from New York to Albany and sometimes beyond. The only real differences are the P32s have third rail shoes, 3200HP as opposed to 4200HP, and a 60mph speed limit when using third rail (don't know if this is lack of power, or a mechanical limitation or something else).
Also, having an AEM-7 in front of a P42 is not completely unrealistic. There have been times when the catenary has been under maintenance in places so a P42 is used to bridge the "gap" while the AEM--7 is used the rest of the way. This was and might still be common on the NEC overnight Regionals, 66 and 67 from Boston to Newport News. Because of catenary work east of New Haven, CT, the P42 remained on the train the entire way from Boston to Newport News, and sometimes I understand, the AEM-7 wasn't cut off in Washington D.C. so occasionally, Newport News would see an electric locomotive (no electrification south of Washington D.C.).
