The EMD E8A was already a venerable locomotive at the time of Amtrak's inception, being renowned for their smooth ride, great speed, and reliability among 1st generation diesels. Around the time of the bankruptcy of the Penn Central railroad, Amtrak inherited many of its locomotives, including the ex-Pennsylvania Railroad passenger E8's that would have pulled the Broadway Limited in days past. It was these E8s that comprised much of Amtrak's locomotive fleet in the non-electried track of the northeast, and until new power could be developed, it was these 1950s locos that continued to serve the railroad until the early 1980s.