The Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 is an electric locomotive class introduced in 1934, built to haul both express passenger and freight trains on the railroad's electrified Northeast Corridor lines. Praised for its streamlined welded body shell designed with industrial designer Raymond Loewy and for its reliability, it remained in service for decades, with some examples running for successor railroads into the 1980s.
Facts
SignificanceA pioneering streamlined electric locomotive known for its Art Deco design and nearly 50-year operating career on the Northeast Corridor. 1 Manufacturer or BuilderGeneral Electric and Pennsylvania Railroad's Altoona Works 1 FAQs
Why is Pennsylvania Railroad number 4800 called Old Rivets?
It is the riveted prototype; every later GG1 had a welded body.
Number 4800 is the riveted prototype. Baldwin built its frames, running gear and riveted body, and General Electric installed the electrical equipment at Erie. Every GG1 built after it was welded, so the riveted engine kept the nickname Old Rivets. It was built as 4899 and took the number 4800 in November 1934, when the two prototypes swapped numbers after the Pennsylvania chose the GG1 design to lead its class.
How many GG1 locomotives were built and does any still run?
139 were built; sixteen survive as museum pieces and none runs.
The Pennsylvania Railroad received 139 GG1 locomotives, numbered 4800 through 4938, between August 1934 and June 1943. The class outlasted the railroad that ordered it, and the last revenue train was New Jersey Transit 4879 out of New York's Pennsylvania Station on October 28, 1983. Sixteen survive, but all are museum pieces: a return to operation has stayed out of reach because the cooling oil in the transformer is a polychlorinated biphenyl and the frames of engines that worked for decades show serious cracking.
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Manufactured By
Also in Business Atlas: the manufacturer of this subject.
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Pennsylvania Railroad GG1
WikipediaOpening paragraph
The class was known for its striking art deco shell, its ability to pull trains at up to 100 mph, and its long operating career of almost 50 years.
History section
On January 28 1935, to mark the completion of electrification of the line from Washington, D.C., to New York City, PRR ran a special train hauled by Pennsylvania Railroad 4800.
In Group: Main-Line Electric Locomotives, Lead sentence
The Pennsylvania Railroad Class GG1 is a class of streamlined electric locomotives built for the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), in the northeastern United States.
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