Dual-powered locomotives are nothing new to New York commuter operations. Since the early 1900s, the main concern was diesel emissions inside the tunnels that led to Grand Central Terminal and Pennsylvania Station. Metro-North and Amtrak were looking to replace their aging fleet of EMD FL9s with a modern dual-mode diesel. Enter the GE P32AC-DM Genesis Series II locomotive in the late 1990s M-N ordered 30 and Amtrak received 18. P32AC-DM may be a mouthful, but it is an acronym for: Passenger, 3,200 horsepower, Alternating Current, Dual-Mode. The P32AC-DM is the cousin to the similar diesel-only P40 and P42DC passenger locomotives.

Amtrak s P32AC-DMs still make their living on Empire Service out of Penn Station to Albany-Rensselear, as well as services to Toronto and Montreal. Metro-North s fleet continues to travel the entire system, into and out of Grand Central Terminal on M-N s Hudson, Harlem and New Haven Lines. CDOT owns four, numbered 228-231, and uses joint fleet utilization, operating the New Canaan, Danbury and Waterbury Lines. In the 2020s, M-N wrapped a few P32s in heritage schemes as well as a special employee tribute scheme.

THE RAPIDO P32AC-DM LOCOMOTIVE FEATURES:

Newly tooled from blueprints and measurements
Many unique dual-mode underbody components
Krupp – MaK High Speed Bolsterless Truck with third rail shoe detail
Piping detail never seen before on a Genesis model
ATC/Cab signal under-pilot detail (ACSES box)
P32AC-DM rounded grille over rear radiator
Nose and rear HEP plugs
Operating headlight, ditchlights, and marker lights
Step lights
Separately applied wire grabs
Semi-scale metal knuckle couplers
MoPower capacitor system for uninterrupted DCC power
DC/Silent (21-pin DCC Ready) or DC/DCC/Sound
ESU LokSound V5 Decoder