Does Amtrak have enough diesel locomotives?

[Texan Eagle]

On most western LD routes, there is not that much 79 mph or even 75 mph running,

Says who? Southwest Chief does tons and tons of 79mph running through the open Wild West, in fact hours of 90mph running on the Transcon too. On my last travel, I had car GPS stuck to the window and was enjoying it showing 78-79 mph for hours on end from Flagstaff to Albuquerque.

Similarly I did the same thing on Sunset Limited, again lots of 79mph speed running through deserts of Arizona-New Mexico-West Texas. When you don't have a stop for 3 hours (west of El Paso), you hit 79 mph on dead straight track and keep cruising.

 

[BCL]

Since the Obama Administration is Currently doing a Big "Manufacture in the USA" Push, Why Not Encourage the Big 3 Automakers (and the other Engine Manufacturers) to make Diesel/Electric Engines again!? Back in the Grim Early Days of WWII, they Transitioned from Making Cars and started Cranking out the Arsenal of Democracy within Weeks of Pearl Harbor! Planes,Trains, Ships and Military Vehicles (ie Tanks, Jeeps and Trucks!)were built in the Millions by Rosey the Riveter and 4-F Guys and the Economy started Humming again! Tax Incentives and Cost Plus Deals would be a Better use of Stimulus Funds and Tax Payers Money than Wars, and might just be the Ticket to help get People Back to Work @ Liveable Wages instead of McJobs with Un-Liveable Wages!
It's a Win!Win! Deal for the Taxpayers, Amtrak and Railfans!

I thought that GM used to own EMD, which is now more or less owned by Caterpillar. I don't think Ford or Chrysler were ever into making big diesels for years, and Chrysler pretty much buys theirs from Cummins. The expertise to make this would be with anyone who could make a large diesel generator. Chrysler is now owned by Fiat, which I believe has its diesel tech in Europe.

What I'm getting at is that these are already made in the US. The Big 3 don't have the expertise any more and don't need to since other American companies do.

 

[battalion51]

The only Engineers that run P-40s on a regular basis are the boys over at Auto Train. The P-40 brake stand is better suited for use on a long heavy train like AT, which is why six engines are somewhat permanently assigned to them. If you'll notice, almost anytime a P-40 is put on to a multiple unit lash up it is trailing. The differences in the brake stand and the way that they apply penalty applications in overspeed situations are two of the big reasons they find themselves trailing 99 times out of 100.