Hippos Ride Again. On Tuesday, April 8, 2025, the HHP-C qualification train operated a round trip from Sunnyside Yard in New York to Wilmington, Delaware as Train 874/873. With the recent outshopping of a pair of HHP-Cs basically remove the HHP-8's ("Hippo") pantographs and most motor components from use to convert them to cab cars (C for cab) and repainting into Amtrak's Phase VII scheme, a new classification has entered the fleet. Seen passing through the former Pennsylvania Railroad Station in Elizabeth, New Jersey on the Northeast Corridor Line with the famous CNJ Station's steeple and clock tower in the background, this train gives engineers a chance to operate with the new configuration on the road. Leading is AMTK 9751 (ex-AMTK 692, née-AMTK 662), followed by ACS-64 623, an AmFleet I coach, AMTK 85999 (AmFleet I, 40th Anniversary Cafe Car) and AMTK 9750 (ex-AMTK 90691, exx-AMTK 691, née-AMTK 661). Placing one at each end oft the consist doubles the amount of training that can be done on a trip, though in regular operation a train will have one at one end and an ACS-64 at the other to facilitate faster moves when changing ends at New York, Washington DC, or another terminal. Note that the adaptation of Phase VII for this carboy has red on the only end for operating as the other end was not modified during this rebuild program.
