Oh I’m sure the standard operations will still include diesel for many reasons - but there is at least a chance it could happen now - where before it 100% couldn’t happen.

The 261 trip I mentioned above - it was Amtrak policy that an Amtrak diesel had to be in the consist - and yet, when Amtrak couldn’t figure out how to get a spare diesel to Minneapolis - they ran without.

My .01% lucky chance was with the 261 so I’ll doubt I’ll see it with the 4014 but maybe someone else will! Haha.

Someone else HAS..haha !!

My friend, Sean Reed, works for the UP in the PTC department. Sean pretty much grew up at the Cotton Belt shops in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, helping to restore and operate 819, and his path has brought him to a management position in the PTC department. His latest job, imagine that, was testing and signing off on 4014's PTC install. UP now approves it as equivalent to any of their diesels, and self-contained. As seen on Facebook, the PTC system now lives in a locker on the side of the tender, that used to contain the cab signal system. It shares most of it's parts with the diesel system, so most repairs can be made out of standard off-the-shelf parts.

It does not have any interconnection to the throttle. Only brakes.

The test runs were made without a diesel. As I understand it, 4014 may run without the diesel on shorter trips on flatter territory.

What - I thought it would never be done!? :-p haha.

Hey maybe that .01% chance is closer to a 5% chance now! I gotta catch the Empress first though - hopefully on her way back north!