I just saw a post somewhere in the model section about The Henry Ford (in Dearborn,MI) has acquired a GG-1. It has been sitting in the weeds in rural NY but, right now, the asbestos and transformer are being removed and it’s being prepared for its move. Anyone know when, or its route? It will be repainted Tuscan with gold stripes, but I don’t know where. I don’t think The Henry Ford will do it on site, but that sure would be a great exhibit : How to repaint a GG-1. I thought some people here might be interested and be ‘in-the-know’ of such details, I’m not one of them.
hey for what its worth…i sent a “research request” to the Henry Ford asking for minor details…if nothing else just to see if its really happening
Yeah, I sent one too. Haha! I’ll post anything I find out here, as soon as (if) I hear from them.
[#ditto]
well its true…heres a link to a local NY paper with the info
http://www.thedailystar.com/local/local_story_091040024.html
There is an effort underway by many members of the PRRT&HS society to convince the Ford people that particular engine was never painted in Tuscan but was green its entire life on the PRR. Apprently the efforts are being ignored in spite of efforts to provide them with historical input and help at no cost.
That’ll give me a reason to spend another 40 dollars (for two people) to go there. Glad it’s being moved inside and preserved at least, I’ve never really been much on electric locomotives but those were one of the neatest looking.
[:D] lol…give a shout nieghbor…ill load up the family and spend my 70 bucks and meet ya there…me and the wifey both love trains and JR…and of course the kids love trians too…
Last time I was at Greenfield Village it was 6 below on New Years Day when I lived in Grosse Ile. They treated evryone brave enough to come out to horse drawn sleigh rides and hot cider in the town hall. never much cared for the Ford Museum but always like Greenfield Village.
A GG1 is quite an impressive sight up close! The National Railroad Museum in Green Bay WI did a nice job restoring their GGI and fortunately keeps it inside in a nice building so you can really walk around and appreciate it – provided you are not distracted by the Big Boy next to it!
A few years ago the Chicago & North Western Historical Society had its convention in Green Bay and we had a dinner and a banquet in that hall, right next to the locomotives. My table was right in front of the gleaming GGI.
Dave Nelson
heres the answer that the Benson Ford Research Center sent me this morning…
Thank you for your inquiry to the Benson Ford Research Center here at
The Henry Ford.
The Electric Locomotive / Pennsylvania Railroad GG1, is now part of the
collections of The Henry Ford.
A resent newspaper article quotes The Henry Ford’s vice president for
museums and collections, Christian Overland.
The nearly 80-foot-long locomotives weighting nearly 240 tons debuted
in
the mid-1930s at the apex of steam power and helped usher in a new era
in railroad locomotives, Overland said.
The museum will be displaying the locomotive indoors next to one of two
surviving Alleghany steam locomotives as a part of its transportation
exhibit, Overland said.
The locomotive will be brought to Michigan by June. Dave Conrad (Valley
Railroad) will restore the locomotive either onsite or at an offsite
facility.
Sincerely,
Benson Ford Research Center
The Henry Ford
Here’s the reply I got:
Thank you for your inquiry to Benson Ford Research Center here at The
Henry Ford.
The mid-1930s Electric Locomotive / Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 will be
brought to Michigan by June. Dave Conrad (Valley Railroad) will restore
the locomotive either onsite or at an offsite facility.
Once restored The Henry Ford will be displaying the locomotive indoors
next to one of two surviving Alleghany steam locomotives as a part of
our transportation exhibit.
No other information is available at this time.
Sincerely,
Benson Ford Research Center
The Henry Ford
It’s nice to see they didn’t send out a “form letter”, ie the same response to everyone.
Still looking for details about its move though.
Ford Museum buys local locomotive
By Jake Palmateer
Staff Writer
COOPERSTOWN JUNCTION _ One of two, rare electric locomotives that for years sat rusting along state Route 7 in the town of Milford is getting prepped for one last ride on the rails.
A temporary building was erected last week around a GG-1 purchased from the Leatherstocking Railway Historical Society by The Henry Ford, one of the nation’s premier history and culture museums.
The locomotive is being cleaned of asbestos by contractors and will have its transformer removed, said Bruce Hodges, president of the Leatherstocking Railway Historical Society.
“I think it’s fantastic. I can’t think of a better home to go to than the Ford Museum,” Hodges said.
The Henry Ford in Dearborn, Mich., has the Rosa Parks bus, the Wright Brother’s bicycle shop and Abraham Lincoln’s chair from the Ford Theater among its collection.
It also includes Greenfield Village, which has nearly a hundred buildings dating from the 1600s to the present, many of which are staffed with costumed interpreters.
The GG-1 purchased by The Henry Ford is one of 16 surviving examples of a locomotive class of the Pennsylvania Railroad that originally numbered 139 engines, said Christian Overland, vice president for museums and collections at The Henry Ford.
Most of the GG-1s were sold for scrap, but the one purchased by The Henry Ford, PRR 4909, and a sister-engine that remains with the Leatherstocking Railway Historical Society, PRR 4917, are among the survivors.
The nearly 80-foot-long locomotives weighing nearly 240 tons debuted in the mid-1930s at the apex of steam power and helped usher in a new era in railroad locomotives, Overland said.
That era lasted until the mid-1980s with the decommissioning of the last GG-1s, Overland said.
“That’s unheard of in the world of locomotives,” Overland said.
The GG-1 will be restored to the deep burgundy with gol
It may very well make the trip entirely by rail - IIRC, there are tracks running into the Museum. GV is an Amtrak stop.
yes the Henry Ford has a live connection with the US rail network…i think they even get loads of coal
Yes, the Henry Ford museum and Greenfield Village does in fact get their coal by rail. But back to the original question on the GG-1. Today is June 17th, does anyone know if it’s started to move yet? Is it on it’s way? Anyone have any itinerary for the move? I would love to see it brought into the museum.
There’s a picture of it and a caption about the museum acquiring it in the Aug 2008 Railfan and Railroad. Says it was moved by the Cooperstown and Charlotte Valley RR to their CP interchange at Cooperstown Jct, NY on May 28, presumably to be taken to Michigan…so maybe it’s already there??
Just be glad they’re not painting it in Penn Central black…with a pink “C”.
Guess the newspaper writer hasn’t heard of the SD9s still running on the BNSF … [:)]
Regards,
Burlington John
How about the 9600 class 2-8-0s of the Japan National Railroad, some of which were built while Japan was fighting Germany during WWI and lasted into the '70s?
There were American steam locos with similar longevity (think Virginia and Truckee!)
Sounds to me like a typically research-free pronouncement by somebody trying (unsuccessfully) to sound well-informed.
Chuck