I would like to buy some Walthers new heavyweights. Need info on consists. What was the usual motive power? Thank you in advance.
Loaded question for a railroad that ran fromNew York to Chicago and the GreatLakes to Louisville. Also what era are you interested in? GG1, P5a, O1, E7, PA, RS1, RS3, GP7, FP7, K4, M1, T1, S1, S2, E6, G5 are all possibilities.
I don’t think very many P5 A or Bs were ever in mainline passenger service. Same for the O1. If you are modeling the Pennsy from Harrisburg/Washington to NYC the only power I ever saw was the GG1 from the late forties to Conrail. Harrisburg west was usually two K4’s for the long overnight trips to Chicago and St. Louis. Had to double head to get over the mountains. In the flatlands they used the duplex until the end of steam. This is just a general guide. There are exceptions all over the railroad. My first choice would be the K4 one of the most beautiful pacifics ever made. It just REEKS Pennsy. You need some B60 Baggage cars in the head and maybe a few P70 coaches and a diner for the overnight pullman sleeper trains.
The P5’s started off in passenger service when the New York-Washington electrification began operation, but were not well-suited for that duty and the GG1 and R1 were built as potential replacements, a contest won by the GG1.
The O1’s were too light and they wound up pulling Lehigh Valley trains between Penn Station and Newark.
The L6’s that did get into service may have pulled heavyweights in equipment moves between Sunnyside and Penn Station.
Don’t forget the Passenger Sharks, Centipedes, and Erie Builts. Pennsy’s sole 4-8-4, the R1, spent its career pulling passengers.
The question didn’t qualify mainline service so my list was predicated upon what could have pulled them. The other part of the question for me was what is available for the most part. The R1 while viable is only available as a very expensive brass model ( as are the P5a and O1 which certainly could have pulled heavyweights). The R1, by the way, was used for many years as the power for the Broadway Limited and was almost in dedicated service for a long time on that train.