GG1 An American Classic 1of4

[arrowguy173]

Great shot at 2:04. Nice vid! Grew up near the museum in Elkhart IN that is home to 4882. Always wanted to see one in motion.

[Hendo56]

All that trouble to restore her, she runs for 2 years, and then they shove her into some yard where she sat and deteriorated for 20 years...

[JeremiahTrane]

Anyone have this song???? Its on all 4 of these parts and wuld be nice to have it....

[Amtrak1194]

When was she retired from NJT?

They really need to keep atleast one G restored like @RailfanDaniel said for special NEC runs like they do with SP 4449

[Dooby1986]

@Amtrak1194

the last GG1 was retired from NJ Transit in late 1983

[southparkline1]

@tine214 No country can compare to Americas Freight system, passengers on the other hand.... we need to step it up.

[renkn]

WOW!!!!! ( smiles) WOW!!!!!!

Good memories of watching the S/A engine change as a kid and taking the last ride in 1983.

Sad to see how 4877 looks today.

[thaihungthinh]

love the smell of juice, hated stinking diesel. Great, best GG1 video.

[CookiesAndGuns95]

It still puzzles me today why the US doesnt use this anymore. It was quiet, economical, powerful and fast, ALL in one body. So good, this thing worked for over 60 years, the longest for an engine like this. I'm glad my grandfather worked on this thing in the 40's! :D

[Frecciadelledolomiti]

This locomotive is very wonderfull!

[Cruithne3753]

Not often you see an electric getting the sort of love reserved for steam locos... really digging the art deco lines of that thing.

[50cobra302]

At 3:15 is that view taken from Deal, New Jersey looking North to Long Branch?

[50cobra302]

More Americans need to see this if for nothing else, Cliff's quote at the end of video

[dcrails11]

Dang man those GG1s are legends.

[jeepers2655]

there`s one in Elkhart,In. at the train Museum......Too costly to re-electric?....motors and such?

[Nacho66]

PCB's used in the internal cooling of the traction motors are what killed the GG1.

They couldn't be brought back without it.

Unfortunately, freight traction pretty much died in the US around the time the G's were retired - Amtrak owning the NE Corridor and wanting Conrail freight off of it was the final nail.

When I was a kid fast freight trains were the norm on the NE Corridor. Not now.

Conrail was ready to invest in new electric motors in '83-'84 but Amtrak said NO to the Corridor.

[likitty20]

9000 horse power...... ITS OVER 9000!

[kmothersil]

Bring back the GG1s!

[dbdrdbag]

A truly AWESOME engine!

[steveM999]

Wow, what memories this footage brings to mind. I remember as a young kid pulling into Harrisburg on the east-bound Broadway Limited about 20 minutes late. They disconnected the four deisel units and hooked the 20-car train up to a single GG!. Once we got going again I was amazed at how fast our train was now moving. Must've hit 90 mph at times, judging by the mileposts. We arrived in Penn Station ten minutes EARLY!

[Willysmb44]

Wow, thanks for posting this, I wasn't aware they'd had one painted for the PRR that late...

[BRU11ROAD]

The GG1s are up there with the greats locomotives such as the Big Boy and British Greats such as the Flying Scotsman Deltics the Coronation and Class 40s and the Electric scots the Class87s

[AlcoholicSemenStain]

@BRU11ROAD why dont you shut the hell up?

[travelsonic]

The Leslie A200 horns - same brand used on the Gs - sound great even to this day.

[Stanroc]

This engine and myriads of other engines for PRR and many other things were designed by Raymond Loewy whom the PRR thought to be a nutcase. But when he brought them his designs, they were blown away. Google his name and learn about the man who gave ART DECO to America.

[Stanroc]

I have a GG-1 memorial license plate on the front of my Toyota Tundra pickup.

Stan Rocklin, Mesa, AZ (I rode the PRR Trail Blazer as a child from Harrisburg, PA to Chicago & back every summer in the 40s & 50s)....

[badboymrpappy]

Just a dark unattractive Electric... Looks slow and lumbering... The design was horrible and only the Paint scheme on the Penn made them look appealing if at all...

[ShapurKing]

American streamlined locomotives were very beautiful !!! Today locomotives are designed by damn idiots without taste.

[Amtrak1194]

@ShapurKing I couldn't agree more!

Even the new Talgo unit's we are supposed to be getting in Chicago are hidious

I like the old luxurious and still fast as they could be trains

[bnsfMAN93]

Nothing worse than the smell of diesel.

[Amtrak1194]

@bnsfMAN93 I love the smell of diesel!

[RailfanDaniel]

Never forget the GG1! They should restore at least two of these for special runs like SP 4449. It would be great to see them run again! One in Brunswick Green, and one in Tuscan Red. I can't believe the American Government is following the direction of European trains now.

[shenanigan87]

@RailfanDaniel What should the American government do instead? Not like the US has much expertise with modern electric engines, so they buy them from Sweden or Germany instead. Sounds reasonable to me.

[Nacho66]

@shenanigan87

Actually, numbnuts, Americans INVENTED electric traction along with discovering electricity in the first place.

Look it up.

I hope to God you're a European...

[shenanigan87]

@Nacho66 Why did you call me numbnuts? Got a problem?

Volta discovered electricity, the first battery powered trains ran in Britain, the first externally powered electrics in Germany. Yes, Americans totally invented it...

It doesn't matter who invented what, what matters is that the great majority of US railroads run on diesel traction, and that the majority of current electrics in the US are foreign made, be it ALP-46 or acela.

Looks like someone had a big mouth and nothing to back it up.

[soundseeker63]

@Nacho66 Surprise surprise. Yet another American with the classic "America invented everything" attitude. You people are hilarious!

[A1l2l2e2n4]

@soundseeker63

It would be be inaccurate to say that we Americans invented EVERYTHING, but we did invent quite a lot.

[TheMann2000]

@RailfanDaniel There is a good reason why GG1s haven't been restored, two of them actually. Problem #1 is the asbestos used in many portions of insulation and electrical components, and problem #2 is that the locomotives use PCBs as dialectics. Both of these materials are major health hazards which make restoring one of these engines very, very difficult and expensive.

[RailfanDaniel]

@TheMann2000 Ok, well i understand. I wonder why they didn't realize that when they were first built? It would be nice if at least one was set back into life though, no matter the difficulty and expense.

[th3gtr]

@RailfanDaniel What do you mean by "European trains"?

[turbo1431]

@RailfanDaniel

everyone would love to do that, but because there were harmful chemicals called PCBs in the transformers in the engine, the transformers were effectivley removed in the mid-90's, making them static display pieces, and it costs far too much to restore to full working order because of this. Now, if the government financed this, it might be done,but they would NEVER do that.

[dal464]

I'd like to know who made this railroader sensitive film so I could get a full copy with credits..

[DrZozo105]

Brilliant!

[Wehategod]

This Video Chokes me up what a beautiful Engine long live the GG1.

[rictoshima]

Someone can post here the lyric of the song of the video please?

[towringer]

You've heard a lot of songs of famous trains along the track.

But how about the engines that take them there & bring 'em back?

This story's 'bout an engine--a GG1 by name. She's riding into history-into a Hall of Fame.

She still wears Pennsy colors-Golden stripes & Tuscan Red. Ran for the Pennsylvania-until that line went dead. Then Central, then Conrail, and Jersey Transit, too. 'Cause my dad's her engineer, her story I'll tell you.

[towringer]

Ol' Big Red--Speeding up & down the line.

Ol' Big Red--Gets her people there on time.

She's a mighty GG1--my favorite, you see.

Her 50 years of service won a place in history.

Love that song.

[towringer]

At 5:48.

When she pulls out of the station & starts her daily run

Old 4877-She glistens in the sun.

Her bell-it rings, her drivers roll, she gently starts to sway.

Just give Ol' Red the throtttle-She'll rip down the right of way.

[rictoshima]

thanks a lot!!! :D

[smwca123]

"Then Central, then Conrail, and Jersey Transit, too"

Wouldn't that be Penn Central?

[towringer]

@smwca123 You're right.

[jsunflyguy]

Wonder how they get that head on shot in the last seconds, must be a tight zoom on a curve.

[KinetikPlayground]

my guess is a mirror, then they just reverse the reversed image.

[generationll]

There were E and F units on the MBTA commuter rail until 1983-84

[Dhoylandrules84]

so even back in 1983 the njt had older streamline cars and even ex pennsy coaches unrepainted?? Does anyone know how that worked out like that and why they used the older equipment for so long? Also what former railroads are these coaches and were these cars not just limited to coaches, where there also lounge cars and things like that? Haha i dunno even for the early 80s that looks like a sweet commuter train. I go to museums to ride on trains with consists just like that

[ma7799]

Believe it or not, things were still rather primitive in passenger railroading back in the early 1980's. NJT was a rolling museum with coaches from various railroads, most of which were steam-heated, (I see no power car behind the GG1), as well as 1920's M.U.'s and E-units.

Even here in Chicagoland, we had E and F-units in commuter service, as well as South Shore MU's until 1983.

[iblskeith]

They used the older cars because they had steam heat and were not head end power equipped. The GG-1s and E-8s on NJT had Vapor Co. steam generators.

[ma7799]

The tuscan red PRR coach behind the GG1 is actually owned by a local railroad club who put it behind "Big Red" for several trips in 1983.

[ACLTony]

The "star wars" like beginning was excellent. IMHO, the GG1 is one of the greatest locomotives ever built; especially considering that the G's outperformed the E60s, often pinch-hit for Metroliners, and could outpull 2 AEM-7s and maintain 100mph speeds. The GG1s rugged durability is a strong testament to what a great, talented, tenacious and productive nation America used to be. What was, will be no more, sad to say.

[Dvincenzo]

PRR GG1 Project: Looking to interview and record conversations with GG1 mechanics, electricians, maintenance personnel, engineers and historians for an upcoming documentary project.

[stevegek]

Love the GG1. Cheers from the Netherlands!

[lindacholita]

Was there ever a train pulled by a GG1 named The Pelican ?

[generationll]

The GG1 is celebrating it 75th Anniversary this year.

[qlancer]

I'm just glad they kept the pinstripes!

[RETreadingengineer]

I spent over 33 years as a engineer, the Reading, Conrail, NS, i opperated Alco, Ge, and EMD Locomotives, the GG1 was The one Loco i would have loved to have opperated, she has always been and always will be the Grand Lady of the rails.Thanks Great Vid A+

[kleetus92]

There's one in the Harrisburg station too. I don' t remember what number though.

They were an impressive piece of engineering that's for sure, but I could never get past the look of them. Yech... I know that's not a popular view here, but give me steam or just about any EMD GP or SD out there.

There was an interesting comment made in the last video, the greatest engine ever built in the USA, possibly the world. That's not really saying much for 50 years of technology later.

[railfreek]

There are 2 inoperable GG1's on a siding in Oneonta, NY. Of course the Pennsylvania Railroad Museum in Strasburg has 2, one inside, and one outside

[travelsonic]

How did 2 GG-1s get to the bumfuck middle of nowhere NY?

[A1l2l2e2n4]

When New the New York Central and the Pennsylvania merged, creating the PennCentral, I imagine that railroad made use of the rolling stock that had belonged to the the NYC and the Pennsy.

[ma7799]

They actually have 3, but the third is stored at the Amtrak station.

[rwk360]

Why didn't NJT save any in operational condition? Why are all the surviving ones inoperable but they could run in 1983? What has 25 some years done to them?

[speedskiff2]

frame cracks in running gear were common but PCBs in transformers spelled the end for these engines. All on display have transformers removed. My grandfathers final run was on engine 4863 before retiring from PRR.

[colinroxanduknowit]

man, i wish i could've been around "back in the day" all the streamliners, the variety with trains (sighs... I can only imagine what it was like to ride behind one or watch one go by..) Oh well, I guess we should be lucky that they run a few of them still (UP 844 & 3985, SP 4449, UP 6939, e.c.t.

[colinroxanduknowit]

I mean UP 6936

[generationll]

The horn signs like E,F Series model

[ma7799]

Are those NJT passenger cars steam-heated?

[bobafett7777]

yep

[soundseeker63]

Amazing looking machine! love that "pop" sound the ammeter makes too.

[randommagnum]

Woah - is it just me or did they sacrifice a camera at the end of this video??? It looked like there wasn't enough room to clear!

[cbehr91]

You need a hearing aid to listen to this video.

[CNJGeep]

LOL @ the song

[Telcom100]

What's the meter they show at 6:25 - volts, RPM, air pressure?

[MADIVAN123]

I think that is an ampermeter

[youbite1]

its the ampermeter....ive been in a gg1 before

[ERIELACKU34CH]

it's the ammeter, and when it jumps the locomotive is transitioning, from parallel to series circuit

[bobafett7777]

erirlacku34ch is correct is the ammeter

[Driverman2008]

I love the "Star Wars" style introduction!XD

[bobafett7777]

6:42 there is also an e60 there too

[danmanlott]

if you look at 6:43 you can see another NJT GG-1 it's just black.

[Driverman2008]

What are the names of the songs in this video?

[cbehr91]

All information about the song and performers is during the credits which are at the end of part 4.

[Driverman2008]

Thanks for the info!;)

[bobafett7777]

the song was written by cliff underwood he used to bring his guitar to work with him my dad worked with him

[xxxDeath9572xxx]

isnt this a Westinghouse E2B1 Horn?

[cbehr91]

Leslie A-200.