The Legendary GG1

The Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 was an icon of railroading. The traction motor got it’s power through pantographs which were raised to contact the 11,000 volt catenary which was strung above the track. There were 139 GG1 units built from 1934 to 1943. Styled by Westinghouse industrial designer Donald Roscoe Dohner and refined by famed designer Raymond Loewy, the GG1 was an attractive machine. The GG1 could generate up to 8,000 HP and was designed to pull passenger trains up to 100 MPH. Eminently reliable, the GG1 was popular with engineers, train crews and the riding public. She enjoyed a long service life with the Pennsylvania Railroad as well as with its Penn Central, Conrail, Amtrak successors. The last GG1 retired from service by New Jersey Transit in 1983. Several units are preserved in museums around the country. So beloved and remarkable was the GG1 that the preserved prototype unit was designated an Historic Mechanical Engineering Landmark in 1983.