ACS-64 locomotive No. 642 at Beech Grove, 2015.

To honor all those who have served in the armed forces, Amtrak painted ACS-64 electric locomotive No. 642 red, white and blue. It also includes a specially designed “America’s Railroad Salutes Our Veterans” logo and 50 stars around the bottom. The locomotive was painted at the Amtrak Beech Grove, Ind., maintenance facility and is used to pull trains in revenue service along the Northeast Corridor.

No. 642 joins her sister P-42 diesel-electric locomotive No. 42, which was painted with a similar paint scheme in 2013. Both locomotives are visible symbols of Amtrak’s commitment to hiring veteran talent. In 2013, the company announced a goal of hiring veterans as 25 percent of all new employees by 2015.

Designed to run at speeds up to 125 mph, the dual-cab ACS-64 has a peak 8600 horsepower. A regenerative braking system can feed up to 100 percent of the energy generated during braking back to the power grid. Safety is paramount with enhanced crash energy management components such as crumple zones, while a microprocessor system allows for self-diagnosis of technical issues.

Photographer: Chuck Gomez for Amtrak. From the Amtrak Corporate Collection.