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Amtrak Phase 1 V8

Here is my first Amtrak reskin. At least, I think it's the first Amtrak reskin I have made. Even though Phase 1 is my least favourite Amtrak livery, I chose this one to make as an RL reskin because someone else has already made a V8 in Phase 3. That reskin can be found in the 'requirements' tab.

Phase 1 was the first proper livery that Amtrak used. The company was launched on May 1st, 1971, and took over the vast majority of long-distance passenger trains in the United States of America. Initially Amtrak didn't have a corporate livery, and instead their inherited engines (and coaches, for that matter) continued running in the liveries of the previous railroads. This resulted in the so-called 'Rainbow Era'. I first heard that term in an episode of the YouTube series 'Engines of Amtrak' by AmtrakGuy365.

This livery is quite simple - light grey with a black roof and mostly red front. It was first launched in 1972, and went on to be carried by at least four different locomotive types:

EMD E8A and E9A
EMD F7A
EMD SDP-40F

Curiously Phase 1 was phased out (pun intended) as Amtrak's main livery by the time the famous EMD F40PH was introduced in 1976. No F40PH's ever carried Phase 1. Instead they carried either Phase 2 or Phase 3 from new.

Back in 2011, Amtrak repainted one of their 'Genesis' locomotives in Phase 1, and the locomotive now operates as a Heritage unit. This locomotive is General Electric P42DC No. 156, and the repaint was done as part of Amtrak's efforts to celebrate their 40th anniversary.