Extremely Rare Amtrak Downeaster NPCU Double-Header + More Rare Amtrak Consists - Late 2023

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About this video: Late 2023 brought some interesting looking trains to the Amtrak Downeaster’s route and beyond. First with clips filmed in Woburn, Haverhill, and Lawrence, Massachusetts, a very unusual NPCU “double-header” on an Amtrak Downeaster set starts out this video. On Amtrak, NPCUs, also known as Non-Powered Control Units or “Cabbages,” can be seen throughout the system. They are former Amtrak F40PH locomotives that have had their engines removed, with that engine compartment space being converted to baggage space as indicated by the access doors on both sides. These units have 5-digit numbers (all starting with 90xxx) and are very rarely seen running together due to the lack of reasoning for two powerless locomotives to be on one train, since they essentially work the same as “cab cars” on commuter railroads. The rest of this video features Amtrak train 688 with extra equipment on the rear in Medford, MA and Exeter, NH, as well as a chase of an Amtrak Downeaster “Portland Extra” equipment move over the Grand Junction running track in Cambridge, MA.