It was October 31, 1983 when the New Jersey Transit retired the final GG1 locomotive. Has one ever seen the mainlines since. Are threre any plans for running a museum/restored GG1 in the future?
No. The GG1s had transformers loaded with toxic PCBs. When they were deactivated the transformers were disposed of as hazardous waste. WIthout some very expensive rehabilitation and rewiring with more modern, environmentally friendly components any rehabilitation (to say nothing of an actual restoration) would be impossible…
So, no, I am not aware of any GG1 electric being restored to operating condition post retirement.
LC
Where would you run it?
Anywhere you can get a lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnng extension cord[:D][}:)]
I heard a rumor that someone had sequestered a GG-1 at the Illinois Railway Museum in Union, IL.
Sounds pretty tall to me, but then stranger things have happened at Union…in a delightful way.
If one were restored. You could build a power car to give it the juice. Make it look like a baggage-express car. Then you could run it where ever you wanted.
I like your style, railroad.
[8D]
There are several GG1s around. All have had their transformers removed.
LC
I’m sure it would be doable, where there’s a will there’s a way and stuff. I had heard that the GG1s ran so well all their service lives that the railroads that owned and used them basically ran them till they were about ready to fall apart! Pennsy sure did a good job engineering 'em, too bad nobody has matched 'em!
-Mark
(who would love to see a GG1 run again!)
www.fuzzyworld3.com
You could run a restored GG1 anywhere on the Corridor from New York south since that electrical system has not been changed, still 11,000V 25 Cycle. You could not run the east-north of New York nor on Jersey Transit’s Morris and Essex lines. You would have to install a modern environmentally correct transformer and certain other safety and signally equipment, and possibly replace the boiler with the electrical equipment for head-end power. I’d say figure ten million, but it could be done.
The GG-1 was put to pasture mainly because all of them had cracked frames.
Tthey did not have HEP so todays trains could not be powered.
The cabs were so small the unions no longer accepted them, plus they need two persons in cab to look past long hood.
Even to restore a GG-1 for any railroad operations it would need to be made compliant to all the above problems.
pour new frames ?? nobody cast stuff that big anymore.
HEP car , not allowed in Penn station.
Make cab bigger ?? then it won’t be a GG-1 anymore.
I was at the train station in Matawan NJ when it departed on it last trip. [:o)][:p][:D]
My son said there is one at the RR Museum of Penn in Strasburg PE. He sent me a T-shirt from their with the GG-1 on it in PRR colors.
[quote]
Originally posted by CHPENNSYLVANIA
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…I saw the one at the museum in Strasburg and if I remember correctly it was the original prototype unit…The rivited one.
I wi***hat it could be done, but will never happen. It was one of the greatest loco that was on the rails any where in the world. 50 years of service. RIP
Is the one at the PRR museum the actual unit that crashed thru the floor of the station in DC on the famous runaway?
Correct me if I am wrong.
People–forget HEP equipment: you have 11, 000 volts above your head. Get a transformer for the HEP equipment. It shouldn’t use up too much room, and you might not have to remove the boiler. I know that you could get new transformers, and not all the frames are cracked.
Sincerely,
Daniel Parks
The solution to the cracked frames might well be to work on one single “runner” and swap components with others to get it working - swap frames around to get an undamaged set. Were any GG1s scrapped and were any parts saved? Over here, most preservation groups have developed a spares store by visiting scrapyards and recovering usable parts from classmates of their loco - everything from throttles to complete trucks and power units.
If steam engines that were lost at the bottom of a river can be hauled out and returned to operating condition, why couldn’t a GG1 get a new transformer. It does seem very unlikely that I will live to see it happen, but if a new transformer was installed, couldn’t it be one that operates on dual voltages so that it could run anywhere there is AC in the overhead? (if you’re going to dream, dream big!)
GG1 is one of my all time favorites, having ridden behind them as a child on trips to NYC and DC from Philly.
Sure would be a fantastic fan trip if it could be done.
Too bad we lost so many NH electrics to the scrappers torch![:(]
GG1 #4927 has been cosmetically at IRM in Union, Il. It looks beautiful. However, it will never be able to run on the IRM on the 600V DC cantenary. Enjoy what you see but don’t expect to see it run on its own power.
Head end power for a GG-1 is absolutely no problem at all. The multi-tap transformer is necesary for the kind of acceleration control the GG-1 has, and it is not a problem to have the right voltage pull-off to run a rectifier to inverter electcronic system that can provide the necessary 480 volt three-phase for regular Amtrak head-end power. Not all frames are cracked, and additional welding and strengthening can assure that one in good shape stays that way. The idea is feasible, but where is the money to come from? If the money were provided, I am certain one of the commuter authorities and/or Amtrak would not hinder the operation in any way if they didn’t loose money on it.