GG1

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Bruette

Member
This is my all-time favorite locomotive. I think the GG1 deserves it's own thread.

Pennsylvania Railroad class GG1

I'm blessed that I was able to see them up close as they passed by not far from my home boyhood home.

This is my first of I hope many photos of the GG1, please feel free to add to them.
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I must admit, when I was a "young gandy dancer" I thought that the GG1's and for that matter, all, electric locos were butt ugly. I have since developed an appreciation for most, but not all, of them now. I think part of the reason for that was the dark color that the Pennsy used and the fact that most pictures back in my earlier days were black and white. I have never seen any of the Pennsy, Milwaukee or other roads electric locos in person, but hopefully, that may change some day!
 
You are correct, it was pulled by a pair of GG1's lettered for the Penn Central. I Googled RFK funeral train and got a lot of pictures, but most were of the crowds that lined the ROW and few of the actual train. What ones I saw were relatively poor quality.
 
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Bob you were right, the quality is poor. The above photo looks like it might be a still image from video tape.
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I'm not sure of the last one.
 
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With the GG1's, was the pantograph that was in use always the one that was in the rear with regards to the direction of travel? Did this hold true for other models of electrics?
 
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Bob you were right, the quality is poor. The above photo looks like it might be a still image from video tape. (on second thought the above is not JFK's train. The PC logo should have tipped me off, but I overlooked it at first.)
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I'm not sure of the last one.

The still photo is the RFK funeral train. Here is a video commemorating the 50th anniversary of RFK's death that includes some shots of the funeral train. I remember seeing overhead shots of the train as I watched it live on my family's old black & white television.

 
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The still photo is the RFK funeral train. Here is a video commemorating the 50th anniversary of RFK's death that includes some shots of the funeral train. I remember seeing overhead shots of the train as I watched it live on my family's old back white television.

Bill you are correct, I had a "brain cramp" Thinking of JFK, rather than RFK.
 
With the GG1's, was the pantograph that was in use always the one that was in the rear with regards to the direction of travel? Did this hold true for other models of electrics?
I think using the rear pantograph was in case of a problem, the pantograph didn't come crashing down on the crew. I've seen photos of GG1s in "freight" service that had both pantographs up, though they were rare.
 
With the GG1's, was the pantograph that was in use always the one that was in the rear with regards to the direction of travel? Did this hold true for other models of electrics?

On the railroad, there is almost never an "always". However, they generally used the rear pantograph. That way if it snagged something, it was less likely to bring the wire down on the engineer.

They would occasionally use both if there was ice on the wires, or if they weren't getting enough current with just one. Also, I'm sure there were times they used the front one for whatever reason, equipment failure, human error, just not bothering since they weren't going far, etc. Mechanically speaking, either one, or both, will work.
 




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