Pennsylvania Railroad Class GG1

Pennsylvania Railroad Class GG1
Pennsylvania Railroad #4935 was an example of a GG1 locomotive.
Technical specifications
Manufacturer(s)	General Electric (15) Altoona Works (124)
Designer(s)	General Electric, Donald Dohner & Raymond Loewy
Type of locomotive	Electric
Constructed	1934 – 1943
Number built	139
Classification	GG1
Gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Power supply	Electric
Electric system(s)	11,000 V AC, 25 Hz
Preservation information
Disposition	Sixteen preserved, remainder scrapped

The Pennsylvania Railroad Class GG1 were a class of electric locomotives built for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) for use in the northeastern United States. Between 1934 and 1943, General Electric and the PRR's Altoona Works built 139 GG1s. It was one of the most popular types of electric locomotives ever built.

Overview

The mechanical design of the GG1 was based largely on the New Haven EP3, which had been borrowed earlier from the New Haven Railroad by the PRR to compare it to its current standard electric locomotive, the P5a.

Beginning in the early 1910s, the Pennsylvania Railroad Class FF1 entered service. It was judged to be too slow for passenger trains and was thus relegated to heavy freight service. In 1933, the PRR decided to replace its P5a locomotives and told General Electric and Westinghouse to design prototype locomotives with the following specifications: a lighter axle load and more power than the P5a, a top speed of at least 100 miles per hour (160 km/h), a streamlined body design and a single (central) cab. Both companies delivered their prototypes to the PRR in August 1934. Both locomotives had the mandated distinctive streamlining, but #4800 was the only unit ever to have a riveted body, giving rise to the nickname "Old Rivets".

The GG1's entered service with the PRR in 1935 and later ran on successor railroads Penn Central, Conrail and Amtrak.

The last GG1 was retired by New Jersey Transit in 1983 and most were scrapped, but 16 of these engines were preserved. It's unlikely they will ever run again given the removal of their transformers upon retirement, for these were revealed to contain dangerous materials known as PCBs. These hazardous materials contributed to the GG1's demise, in addition to bogie and frame cracks.

Accidents and Incidents

• On January 15, 1953, locomotive #4876, while hauling the Federal Express, overran the station platform and crashed into the station concourse, falling through the floor and into the basement of the station. Although nobody was killed, 43 people were injured in the accident. The accident was caused by a brake defect on one of the passenger cars in the consist.

Preservation

Fifteen GG1s have been preserved although none of them are operational:

Photograph	Locomotive	Build date	Manufacturer	Location
	4800 ("Old Rivets")	1934	General Electric	Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, Pennsylvania
	4859	1937	Altoona Works	Harrisburg Transportation Center in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
	4876	1939	Altoona Works	B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland
	4877	January 1939	Altoona Works	United Railroad Historical Society of New Jersey in Boonton, New Jersey
	4879			United Railroad Historical Society of New Jersey in Boonton, New Jersey
	4882	1939	Altoona Works	National New York Central Railroad Museum in Elkhart, Indiana
	4890		Altoona Works	National Railroad Museum in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin
	4903			Museum of the American Railroad in Frisco, Texas
	4909	1941	Altoona Works	Leatherstocking Railway Museum in Cooperstown Junction, New York
	4913	1942	Altoona Works	Railroaders Memorial Museum in Altoona, Pennsylvania
	4917			Leatherstocking Railway Museum in Cooperstown Junction, New York
	4918	1942	General Electric	National Museum of Transportation in St Louis, Missouri
	4919			Virginia Museum of Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia
	4927	1942	Altoona Works	Illinois Railway Museum in Union, Illinois
	4933	1943	Altoona Works	Central New York Chapter of the National Railroad Historical Society in Syracuse, New York
	4935	1943	Altoona Works	Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, Pennsylvania

Formerly Preserved

Photograph	Locomotive	Build date	Manufacturer	Location	Scrapped
	4873	January 1939	Altoona Works	Whippany Railroad Museum	Scrapped in 1992.

Trivia

• The engineer's cab had a 21-position controller for applying voltage to the motors.
• Beginning in the early 1910s, the Pennsylvania received the FF-1 but decided it was too slow for passenger trains and was relegated to heavy freight service. In the mid 1920s, they received the L5 electric which had third rail power supply at the time.
• In 1976, locomotive #4800 was painted in patriotic colors to celebrate the United States Bicentennial celebrations.
• In 1969, Locomotive #4902 hauled the Golden Spike Centennial Limited but in later years, after when #4902 hauled the Golden Spike Centennial Limited the locomotive became Amtrak #905.
• The GG1s were primarily designed to pull passenger trains, but they were also used for freight service.
• In 1952, the paint scheme was changed to tuscan red; three years later, the pinstripes were simplified to a single stripe and large red keystones were added.
• Both companies delivered their prototypes to PRR in August 1934.
• The first designer for the GG1 project was industrial designer Donald Roscoe Dohner, who produced initial scale styling models, although the completed prototype looked somewhat different.
• It was not until Amtrak imported two lightweight European locomotives – X995, an Rc4a built by ASEA of Sweden and X996, a French design – that a replacement was found.
• Penn Central went bankrupt in 1970 and its freight operations were later assumed by government-controlled Conrail, which used 68 GG1s in freight service until the end of electric traction in 1980.
• The GG1 was designed to run on the standard Pennsylvania Railroad catenary power of 11,000 V AC, 25 Hz.
• Both locomotives featured a center-cab, bi-directional, design.
• In 1945, a Pennsylvania GG1 pulled the funeral train of President Franklin D. Roosevelt from Washington, D.C.'s Union Station to New York City's Pennsylvania Station.
• GG1s delivered 4,620 hp but could reach 8,500 hp for short bursts.
• It made a round trip from D.C. to Philadelphia and, on its return trip, set a speed record by arriving back in D.C. 1 hour and 50 minutes after its departure from Philadelphia.
• These engines appeared in some Hollywood films such as "The Greatest Show on Earth", "Dead Reckoning," and "Broadway Limited".
• On June 8, 1968, Penn Central GG1s no 4901 and 4903 pulled Robert F. Kennedy's funeral train.
• On about 40 units, the air intakes were moved to a position under the pantographs.
• General Electric submitted the GG1, and Westinghouse submitted the R1.
• Timetable speed limit for the GG1 was 75-80 mph until October 1967 when some were allowed 100 mph for a couple of years; when Metroliner cars were being overhauled in the late 1970s, GG1s were again allowed 100 mph for a short time when pulling Amfleet cars on trains scheduled to run 224.6 miles from New York to Washington in 3 hours, 20–25 minutes.
• During its tour of the United States in 1969, LNER Class A3 No. 4472 Flying Scotsman had to be hauled by a Penn Central GG1 locomotive through Pennsylvania.
• It is famous for its Leslie A200/Wabco E2 horn. They might be similar sounded because Wabco rebadges the A200.
• The GG1 appears in the flash game Rail of War, named Pennsylvania.

See also

• Gallery