Amtrak Diesels on Electrified Track - Trains Magazine

 Sorry but when I watch all the tunnel videos for Freedom Tunnel (and Riverside) they do not show any third rail or catenary even in the skinny sections.  Furthermore the engines sure sound and look like they are running on diesel in those videos.  While at Croton-Harmon waiting for my Metro-North ride I watched several Amtrak diesels chugging right up and down the line in diesel.  A much earlier discussion on these forums also said that Amtrak runs diesel at the earliest opportunity to save money.  I'd like to see some more pictures of the Freedom Tunnel (I have seen hundreds) but I cannot see any kind of electric traction system on them.

The Penn Station tunnel's third-rail is over-running, but the NYC third-rail from Croton-Harmon is under-running, so Amtrak runs in diesel mode straight down to around 50th street where the Penn Station electrification starts.

Some of this can be observed by some unusual moves:

Note this unusual move of Amtrak on NYC track detouring from the Empire Connection.  Note the power used on the return trip at 1:45 of the first video.  Very interesting stuff. The railfans call them "tow jobs."

Tow-job:

More tow-jobs:

 Here is another video of an AMTK train at GCT with some explanation of the third-rail issue with Amtrak in the description:

From a video comment: "Besides the over-running shoes that Amtrak's P32AC-DM's have, their locomotives also do not have an escape hatch in the nose of their units, so to go into GCT, They needed to tack one (or two)of our P32AC-DM's on the head end and their unit(s) are then completely shut down.

Hope this helps.