AEM7-AC electric

[Green_Elite_Cab]

In the early 2000s, Amtrak began rebuilding it's fleet of highly successful AEM7 electric locomotives with Alternating Current technology, to increase their horsepower and lifespan. This involved replacing the old EMD/ASEA guts with some from Alstom, similar to what is found in the Acela and HHP8 electric locomotives.

No model of this variant exists, though Atlas did produce many of the "original" AEM7 passenger electrics (i already had 7, including the ALP44). This will be my eighth unit (if only i had this many GG1s....), and so I'm setting out to build one of the rebuilt AEM7-AC units. I'm thinking i can also use this as an oppertunity to increase the pulling power of the engines.

Currently, out of the box, an AEM7 can handle about 5-6 cars on a grade or through tight curves. While they can pull a train on flat tangent track, most layouts don't fit that description. Adding an ounce or so of weight and bull frog snot improves this to about 9 cars, but its not enough for me, lol. A single AEM7-AC can handle trains that are more like 13 cars. As you'll see, there are larger roof boxes on the AEM7-AC, which i will attempt to fill with lead. This may bring the weight up on these little toasters (they need it).

Here is a prototype photo of an AEM7-AC for reference




This is one of the Atlas AEM7s as they come out of the box. fortunately, many AEM7s retain their original configurations, and don't need to be rebuilt. I probably should install ditch lights, but i'll do this project first as "practice". I'd hate to damage a painted model. AEM7s in this paint scheme are rare, and they are often expensive. I got lucky when i bought my pair. Only #914 needs a renumbering, as it is an AEM7 AC, and i'm not going to rebuild the painted models.



Here is the work so far-



I first scraped away the vents that bracketed the old Resistor Grid box. on the AEM7-AC, this is replaced by a pair of large Air filters, with the grids being spread around the roof (see above photo). This is the main reason i won't redo a painted unit, since there is no way to remove this without requiring a total repaint.



I then cut away a portion of the round housing directly behind the box. I carved most of the extra material away, and then sanded it down to match the profile of the rest of the roof (there is a slight bevel near the edges). I worked my way down to super fine sand paper and polished it up. At this point, the only major modification required to the shell is the addition of ditch lights, and altering some pilot MU plug configurations.



After the Air Filter box area is cleared, i used prototype photos and a scale ruler to match up the corners of the box with where approximately they should be on the roof. luckily, they seemed to match up well with the vents on the side of the body, making it an easy task. I sketched this out on paper to make a pattern for cutting the styrene "roof" section for the air filter boxes.



From there, i pretty much constructed the boxes out of various bits of styrene. the sides of the boxes have vents, and i will install photo-etched brass with frames when I'm ready to install the box. The "insides" will be painted either flat black or grimy black, depending on what looks better. I won't actually install the boxes until after i've painted the body.





Fortuneatly, new TCS decoders can fit UNDER the hood, as opposed to having to be installed in the air filter box area. The hole down there will probably get covered over with thin sheet styrene.