MTH 20-20352-1 AMTRAK E-8 FEATURES?

I did get a reply from Justin at MTH who stated the following:

It does appear the Amtrak E8 has a MARS light.

The stops are as follows:

Stops:

Indianapolis
Montgomery
Jacksonville
West Palm Beach

Does anyone know what train name this might have been during the Phase-1 E-8 Amtrak era?

Since the new set of Amtrak E-8s are single headlight units (based on the listed cab numbers), I'd be shocked if they had MARS lights.

I'm hoping to get my set in a few days...

I never thought of researching the listed cab numbers and comparing the pictures of the real engines that are posted online.  MTH support has been wrong in the past.  Did you purchase the additional B unit?

was waiting to see pictures or video of these to decide if I want these to pull my scale amtrak train I am building.

I asked MTH whether or not they'd be single light units to match the numbers, and they told me yes. Given the PS2 set was correct for dual headlight units, I suspect they gave me the right info. Interestingly, they changed the cab numbers since the original announcement (201 became 216), and now both locos are ex-RF&P units.

No I didnt buy the extra B unit. I wont even run the B unit that comes in the box.  B units were uncommon on Amtrak trains, and most were E-9Bs, not 8's. Most were turned into Steam Generator cars or scrapped. I have the PS2 set as well, so AAA or AAAA will do just fine. If the PS3 tether plug is smaller than the PS2 plug, then I'll probably reverse the slave A to run them elephant style. It can be done with the PS2 plugs, but its a tight fit under the coupler and through the pilot.

My set ought to be here tomorrow. The real units had a unique double horn setup (5 forward, one separate horn facing backward), I'm curious to see if they did that (but I doubt it).

If you are interested in selling any of your B units let me know. I can't find one

E-8 B unit with the "pointless arrow" on hebners.net Amtrak photo archives.  Did any ever exist?  Please post some pictures and or information when you get your E-8's.

I am hoping MTH will do Amtrak E-8 numbers 408-409 in the phase-2 "cigar band" paint scheme in the future.  Only thing is that 408 & 409 were E-9's they would have to add the PRR type front brackets and eliminate the portholes.  I am guessing that might involve retooling?  I am wondering what MTH did to make the Bennett Levin E-8's?

UPS guy just came. I unwrapped one and took it for a spin, I'll get the other one out later. IMO, these are a pretty good effort on MTH's part. The biggest error is the portholes on the model vs no portholes on the real one.

New feature I noticed right away is smoke from both exhaust ports.

The paint is good, it looks correct, I'm a little iffy about the number font, but I need to look into it a little bit more. There was so much variation in early amtrak that it might be correct, depending on who did the paintwork on the locomotive.

They got half the horn set right, as its got the 5 forward facing bells, but left off the single chime to the rear. Wouldnt be too hard to fix.

PFA is the Floridian, and it sounds like a new sequence format "Attention Amtrak Passengers...." it begins, which is a nice touch. All my 21" phase I cars are packed up for York, but I'll have the whole train running in the Black hall next week.

Real 216

Model 216

Thank you for the reply and posting the pictures.  I love the tall 5 chime horn set and the black background on the number boards.   The 5 chime horn reminds me of the one on my PS 2.0 B&O E-8's  If you know anyone who has a YouTube channel at York please tell them to take some video of your E-8's and post them.  Here are a couple of my videos.

One of my earlier videos with my phase-2 Weaver Amtrak E-8's and Weaver aluminum cars.