1. Dave Kerr

    Dave Kerr TrainBoard Member

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    As you can tell, I am a fan of the GG1.

    From front to back: Kato (N), IHC (HO), and MTH (O).

    This is one of the few times I have used my macro lens.






    Dave 9318 DPP RS.JPG 9323 DPP RS.JPG 9325 DPP RS.JPG
     
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  2. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Wow, beautiful models Dave! My first GG-1 was from Lionel, a heavy post-war two-motor affair. I still have it. Years later as a young teen, I saw my first real GG-1s bringing the Broadway into Trenton. Only then did I realize that Lionel's model was seriously foreshortened!
     
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  3. Sepp K

    Sepp K TrainBoard Member

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    I saw my first GG-1 from the platform at Trenton also. I remember my father pointing out where the engineer sat. It seemed so high up to me at the time. I don't ever remember seeing a five-stripe, though.
     
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  4. Kurt Moose

    Kurt Moose TrainBoard Member

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    Hey Dave, they're available in Z scale too, just sayin'...:rolleyes:
     
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  5. Shortround

    Shortround TrainBoard Member

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    Always thought those look goofy. Giant 44ton switcher. :LOL:
     
  6. Grey One

    Grey One TrainBoard Supporter

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    They started making them in N Scale when I stopped buying equipment. Sizgh.
     
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  7. Inkaneer

    Inkaneer TrainBoard Member

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    I'll understand your post was a small attempt at humor. The emphasis there is on the word 'small'.:D But back to the GG1, it actually weighed 228.5 tons and had 4680 sustainable horsepower with peak HP of 10,000 and able to attain 128 MPH although the PRR rated it for 100mph passenger and 90mph freight. It had a service life of almost 50 years and was removed from service, not because there was something better to replace it but rather because of old age (frame cracks and PCB's in the transformer coolant). Oh, and for the body mount devotees, it came with truck mounted couplers.:)
     
  8. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Thank you @Inkaneer. (y) I was mulling a response, but you worked it far better than I would have.
     
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  9. Doug Gosha

    Doug Gosha TrainBoard Member

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    Arnold introduced the GG1 in 1971. That's a long time ago.

    Doug
     
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  10. bigGG1fan

    bigGG1fan TrainBoard Member

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    I clocked a GG-1 at 103 on the main line between Paoli and Lancaster in 1980 or 81 from inside Amtrak's Broadway, making up time. We were running late because the E65 originally assigned to the consist fried its transformer (as they were wont to do) just outside of Newark, so they called the old girl out for rescue. It was the last time (out of literally hundreds) I rode behind one.

    Still my favorite engine of all time, even if it was the only engine I saw pulling paasenger trains at North Philadelphia station those Sunday afternoons (if I was good.) Growing up, my train world largely consisted of those, E44's, Owl cars, Silverliner 1's ( 201-219, built for NEC and Harrisburg service, with bathrooms and water fountains) and 2's. The Reading's EMU's (Blueliners and "Greenies" with the fuzzy seats) and their version of Silverliners, along with their 4 (?) F-units (Philadelphia to Bound Brook commuter service) ran through Wayne Junction, with a variety of Geeps on the freight lines.

    Been a long time.

    Sent from my SM-T837A using Tapatalk
     
  11. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Neat memories @bigGG1fan . I wish I'd been able to see so much more. Found this negative earlier this week, taken when I was a teen in July 1976 of a Silverliner at Princeton Jct., NJ. Note the Iran Air ad to the right, just a few years prior to the Shah's fall.

    1976-07-20 010 Princeton Jct NJ - for upload.jpg
     
  12. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    I did see some GG-1s that day though, including Amtrak's 906. Wow, talk about infrastructure. The PRR did things in a big way didn't they? The tile roof of Nassau Tower can be seen behind the G.

    1976-07-20 013 Princeton Jct NJ - for upload.jpg
     
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  13. umtrr-author

    umtrr-author TrainBoard Member

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    I 'grew up' with GG1s and E44s. I saw many of them while railfanning, mostly at Rahway Station which is the stop just north of where what is now called the North Jersey Coast Line brances off the main line. At the time, G's were still pulling a lot of freight as well as passenger trains.

    I sold off my Arnold GG1s some time ago. My only model is a first run BLI (in "Horribly Oversize") and I think they got the sound spot on.
     
  14. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    I did later photograph a few Gs on Kodachrome, including the 4877 at Woodbridge, NJ in June 1981, specially repainted that year through efforts of the Jersey Central Railway Historical Society and NJ Transit. She ran in routine passenger service on New York & Long Branch trains. That's WOOD Tower to the left in the distance seen between the poles.

    1981-06 001 Woodbridge NJ - for upload.jpg
     
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  15. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    Most of the remaining G's weren't so colorful, the 4879 being an example. Taken at Woodbridge, NJ on the same day.

    1981-06 003 Woodbridge NJ - for upload.jpg
     
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  16. umtrr-author

    umtrr-author TrainBoard Member

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    That was a nice paint job on the 4877. The 4935 was a nice job as well, in the Brunswick Green "can't tell it from black" five-stripe scheme.

    Nitpick department: isn't that shot in Perth Amboy... assuming I am correct that it's the Outerbridge Crossing approach in the background? It looks like the remaining one track of the former CNJ Elizabeth and Perth Amboy line over to the right. At one time there was a "flying junction" allowing the southbound track of the CNJ to be on the left, where there is catenary but no track.
     
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  17. acptulsa

    acptulsa TrainBoard Member

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    They were actually mounted to the span bolsters.
     
  18. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    You're right. We went to visit WOOD Tower, so I figured we were in Woodbridge. You can see your "flyover" to the right on the model board.

    1981-05 001 Woodbridge NJ WOOD Tower - for upload.jpg

    06-1981 003 Woodbridge NJ WOOD Machine - for upload.jpg
     
    Last edited: Nov 12, 2021
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  19. Hardcoaler

    Hardcoaler TrainBoard Member

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    While there, I saw a CNJ padlock on a relay case.

    1981-06 004 Perth Amboy NJ.jpg
     
  20. Inkaneer

    Inkaneer TrainBoard Member

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    "A span bolster connects two trucks so that they can be articulated together and be joined to the locomotive or car at one rotating mounting point. In effect, they make one "super-truck" out of the two, while permitting each truck to move relative to the other." . . . "The most common use on locomotives is to give a more flexible alternative to a four-axle truck; two two-axle trucks linked by a span bolster allows the wheels to follow a curve better, without excessive side forces or the need for lateral motion of the axles in the truck." So it is part of the truck assembly. Close enough!
     
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