GE P30CH

The GE P30CH was one of the first brand-new diesel-electric locomotives that General Electric built for Amtrak in its early years. The design was based on the GE U30C but had a cowl carbody like its EMD competitors. Amtrak ordered 25 in 1974 and operated them from 1975 to 1992. The designation stands for passenger service, a 3,000 horsepower V16 GE 7FDL engine, a C-C wheel arrangement and head-end power, and the units were nicknamed Pooch. It was the first Amtrak diesel built with factory head-end power, but mechanical problems, noise and rough riding made it unpopular, and the four-axle EMD F40PH soon replaced it. Amtrak leased fifteen to Southern Pacific for the Peninsula Commute in 1978.