I’m standing at the CNJ station in Elizabeth, NJ, in 1960 to 1965 and look up to see a PRR passenger train crossing at the Arch. What likely color is the GG-1 pulling it? How many stripes does it have?
Something from my youth tells me that Green and five is the correct answer, but I know there were some GG-1s painted Red in the '50s, but don’t know when and where they were used. Any help greatly appreciated.
Bob
This web site should help:
http://www.spikesys.com/GG1/paint.html
Green with a solid stripe is the most likely version from that time period.
Sheldon
More than likely by that time you saw Green GG1’s with a single wide stripe. There may have been some with the 5 stripe scheme left but not many. As for the Tuscan red, there were only 5 or 6 painted in that color with the 5 stripes for service on the new Congressional Limited in 1952 & even those went to the single stripe scheme by the mid sixties. I too, spent many hours on the PRR platform at Elizabeth during the sixties and only remember seeing a G in Tuscan Red once. Of course I fondly remember the CNJ RDC’s scooting back & forth under the PRR main there as well.
John
More then likely Brunswick Green/five gold stripes but that not to say that it wasn’t possible to see a red one or an all black one or some other combination That part of the PRR was known as railroad Siberia specifically the Long Branch line where the PRR sent all power to live out it’s final days.
This is a very good website and may answer all your PRR questions
http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/locolist.aspx?id=PRR&Page=1
Thank you, gentlemen. I guess my memory isn’t as bad as I had feared!
– Bob
Check out YouTube’s GG1 An American Classic 1of4 highlighting Big Red #4877’s last GG1/NJT run – Also quite an education because this 4-part series is a documentary!
John, I am trying to incorporate a version of the Arch on my CNJ based layout. It would be nice to have a PRR passenger train stopped at the station overhead. If I can work out the spacing details, I will be sure to model you up top looking down at the CNJ while I stand at the Elizabeth station looking back up at you!
– B (Roselle Park native)
Bob,
That would be a great scene to model. The CNJ Elizabeth Station was/is classic with that clock tower however, I remember the PRR station as being kind of a dump. If I remember correctly, the CNJ had a 4 track main thru Elizabeth but only 2 tracks were in use by the time I discovered it. I also remember seeing the Reading “Crusader” stop there but by that time it had been downgraded to a couple of RDC’s. I was looking at Google Earth the other day and you can barely make out the CNJ main thru the trees & brush. Such a shame, it truly was a great train watching spot.
John