American Orient Express
Locomotives

The AOE never had its own locomotives for pulling the train. AOE itineraries called for the train to traverse huge swaths of North America across many different railroads and this was best accomplished under the auspices of Amtrak. The AOE relied on whatever locomotives Amtrak had available - quite a variety over time. Canadian National supplied locomotives in the upper midwest and Canada.

An added bonus was that Amtrak locomotives could provide head end power that would otherwise have to come from a dedicated power car.

Image: G. Gerard, April 23, 2006 at Winston, GA

A typical set of Amtrak Genesis locomotives pulls the AOE.

Image: G. Gerard, March 1, 2001 at Sylacauga, GA

Here a pair of Amtrak diesels pulls the AOE August 20, 1995.

Image: George Hamlin

Seen here in Quebec, Canada September 12, 2003 with a Canadian National locomotive. The Canadian locomotive could not provide the passenger cars with electrical power, so a leased Amtrak locomotive accompanied the train to Canada (and Mexico for the same reason).

Image: Pierre Fournier
More of Pierre's photography can be seen at Railpictures.net

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