One of the biggest union-related scandals after the dieselization of railroads (which started in the 1930s, paused during WWII and resumed with a vengeance in the 50s) was how the unions strong-armed the railroads into keeping the firemen employed, even though it was a defunct position and the firemen basically had very little to do except keep the steam heat boiler fired in the winter (trains back then used to take heat directly from a steam locomotive’s boiler, and when railroads retired steam, they installed small oil-fired boilers on passenger diesels to keep the passengers warm in the winter—this has been replaced with head-end power, where an electric generator run from the diesel’s crankshaft supplies HVAC to passenger cars).
You ever hear a steam locomotive’s exhaust? Ear-splitting. Never mind the whistle. They are nice in small doses, but for them to be all over the place would be worse on the nerves than living near an international airport. They’re quite a bit more labor-intensive than diesels, and of course a great deal less heat-efficient (best ones were about 6 percent efficient; compare that to diesels at 35-40 percent efficient, and electrics yet higher than that). With coal burners, the railroads now worry about “track fires” all the time; that’s why Union Pacific converted all the locos from their steam program to oil burning.
Most Chicom high-speed trains are unoriginal designs, either licensed or stolen from other countries. After some of those high-profile accidents on those trains, I sure wouldn’t want them running in the USA any time soon.
I remember the big fight over firemen on the diesels — this as typical union make-work feather bedding at the expense of the rail roads.
I don't know whether Amtrak will go back to the OEM to replace the Acels, but don't rule out the Chicoms. Yes, I know theirs are pretty much substandard copies of other people's products, but never underestimate the stupidity of the federal bureaucrat. These cretins could opt for Chinese given the morons we have making policy decisions.