No question, the GG1 was one of the best locomotives designes, ever. They were the best under 25 HTz, 11,000 volt Catenary designed by Westinghouse in 1900 and installed by the Pennsylvania in the 1930s.
The extention of electrification northward and needed added trains and capacity in an expanding market required the purchase of Commercial High Voltage Power at the national standard 60HTz. It’s the cost of converting to 60 cycle power and solid state control that mover the mighty GG1, a fast and beautiful locomotive, to museums.
But lets not undercut the quality of the plant. One time Electrical Engineer for PRR/PC/CR, Nelson Bowers, once pointed with pride how the PRR electric system was capable of delivereing a full load of power to Sunnyside Yard from south of Philadelphia when needed by power outages, and other problems. It was a well built, well maintained system which was part of the success of the GG1.
Absolutely correct: The total load probably is about the same but the load distribution is quite different. The addition of the many commuter trains at NYP, PHL, and especially WASH has caused the loads to be more concentrated. The loss of freight motors on other portions of the electric distribution lowered the demand there. Use of HEP, higher speed and higher acceleration rates has helped lead to this concentration. To Amtrak’s credit it has used regular funds and now ARRA funds to upgrade the distribution system. The few brownouts that occurred last year showed the necessity of these upgrades. For any system to last 75 - 70 yrs this well is a monument to great engineering.
There’s a story (audio file only) where a GG-1 engineer timed his engine running light to about 167 mph before the crew became nervous about the tracking.
Every engineer (I think) has a Stop Watch around his neck to time the Mile Posts and confirm his Speedometer.
I still doubt the AC Traction Motors could rev that fast being limited by gearing and voltage. If, on DC Traction Motors, you lose the field, in theory, Torque goes to “0” and speed goes to “infinity”.