In the 1990s, Amtrak had a fleet of EMD F40PH locomotives that were in need of a replacement. Amtrak partnered with General Electric to make the "Genesis" series of locomotives, however due to delays Amtrak needed a fleet of new locomotives to be put in service while the new P40DC (later P42DC) locomotives were being built. This is when GE turned to their previously made B32-8 and modified it with passenger specs and a wide cab to make the P32-8BWH.
Being delivered and entering service in 1991, these dash 8s found themselves running on everything alongside the soon to be retired F40PHs. These new units were famously nicknamed "Pepsi Can" as the paint scheme applied to these did somewhat resemble a can of Pepsi. Of the 20 that were delivered two would get sold off to Caltrans, and these would become CDTX 2051 and 2052, which quickly became very famous. Around the turn of the century, the dash 8s would find themselves being painted into the Phase IV paint, and by this point worked mostly alongside the Genesis series with the last F40PHs being retired around 2002. However, it wouldn't take long before Phase IV was phased out, and by 2016 Amtrak 515, the last Phase IV, would head to Beech Grove, IN to get the Phase V paint.
The delivery of the Genesis locomotives marked the point where the dash 8s would be seen on just about anything. Unlike the dash 8s, the P40DCs and P42DCs were designed basically only for mainline running as these had a cowl body, this made the dash 8s a universal unit as these don't have a cowl body which made them more preferable for switching while also still being good for running trains. Eventually, this would find the dash 8s being stuck as switchers and on MOW work, although sometimes still being put on the mainline. On top of this, Amtrak California's two dash 8s would be retired from mainline service in 2018, with 2052 being completely dead and 2051 becoming the Oakland yard switcher where it still runs today.
In 2016, a new competitor who in recent years prior had pushed into the U.S. locomotive market, rolled out something that threatened the career of the fleet of now all P42DCs. Siemens had released the SC-44, known as "Chargers," which were built to takeover regional routes such as the Cascades, Midwest services, and Surfliner. This would immediately lead to the retirement of the majority of Amtrak's F59PHIs, removed the need of P42s on these services, and other railroads that bought chargers would phase out their older power. This would prove to be a bad decision for these railroads as the units have several design flaws that caused them to break down a lot. Despite this, in 2021 the first ALC-42, the long distance version of the SC-44, was delivered to Amtrak. Both variants experience similar problems, with the first runs of the ALC-42 in service being plagued with problems. Very quickly, this would become so bad it caused the dash 8s to see a massive reappearance on trains and Class I leaders became more common than ever as breakdowns became that common, especially in the winter. It also didn't help that the P42s were old and therefore had been racking up many miles, causing them to occasionally break as well. Despite that, even though the chargers were supposed to replace the aging GEs, so far it has become quite the opposite situation, with trains such as the Coast Starlight and Empire Builder seeing these P42s constantly, even though Amtrak had ALCs fully take over these trains quite some time ago.
Seen in this photo is a perfect example of that. Early morning on UP's Black Butte Subdivision sees Amtrak 14, the northbound Coast Starlight, making its way to Seattle. This day there were no chargers in sight, just a dash 8 and a P42. Due to breakdowns, Amtrak 160 was the only unit ready to take the train, but it needed a second motor so Amtrak 510 left its usual duties switching and occasionally running commuters out of LA to take this. Notably, 160 is one of Amtrak's heritage painted motors, painted in the dash 8s iconic "Pepsi Can" scheme. Unfortunately, once this power set returns to LA tomorrow, it appears that 510 is going straight back to its usual routine.
