Somehow Benny Goodman perfectly personifies the spirit of the PRR. This film is an amazing resource for 20th Century infrastructure students and PRR historians. WOW. Thanks for bringing this online.
I hired out in 1977 and spent plenty of time riding the firemans seat of GG1s working at Sunnyside yards and Penn station as a conductor. Rode many head end trips on E 60s and AEM7s while qualifying to Washington in the early 1980s. Brings back some good times, thanks for posting
This vintage film is priceless, and shows an age of railroading that will never come to pass again. Loved seeing the old freight cars and cabooses in the sidings. Music very appropriate as well. 5-- count them 5 Stars--***** for this video Thanks for sharing it with the world
You brought a tear to my eye. As kids, my brother and I would stand just outside the east portal of the Hoffman st. tunnel in Balto to watch the G's comming and going. We knew Penn station was just on the other side. What tugs at the heartstrings is listening to the big band sounds of that era. My grandfather used to be the best trumpet player in Baltimore at the time these movies were made. Keep em commin baby! Mis labled or not, I love em. Excellent experiance...Thank you. -Phil
Thank you for posting this priceless video material which well illustrates why, at the time, the PRR was known as the "Standard Railroad of the World".
Things I really liked about this (in no particular order): 1) The music 2) Seeing the Pnessy line before the decline 3) The tight clearences (even the compression of the zoom lense) 4) The engeer's hat (classy) 5) The nostalgia (though this was before I was born, I a can appreciate it). Thank you for posting.
A-W-E-S-O-M-E !! Love those " Art Deco style" (CG1) locomotives! Great footage here! Love the buildings , train towers,and factories and chimney tunnels, bridges etc........Nice cabaooses, passenger cars and a swicher engine too at 4:22 . I can feel the heat..... and I can smell the strong pungent smell of creosote in the air watching this! I like the engineer's( Eddie Franks) hat...
Great footage. I remember the GG1's running down at the Greenwich Yard in South Philadelphia back in the 60's. I was always in awe of these American classics.
What a fantastic time piece! I can only imagine what it must have been like to drive one of these beasts. You must have felt totally invincible at the helm. A shame none have been preserved in an operational condition.
Very EXCELLENT video. The drum solo by the Great Gene Krupa is the finest example of a kit ride. I have played this chart with the General Assembly Big Band and the trumpet parts are EXTREMELY Difficult! I rode behind 2 G's in 1964 out of Washington Terminal. We had 15 cars and 10 REA Express reefers and Box cars and those G's accelorated like it was Nothing. I saw their last years of operation in South Amboy NJ on NJ Transit and they were still impressive after all those years! THANKS
The ol' GG1 used to front the train we rode every summer from Penn Station to North Philadelphia to visit my aunt & uncle in the 60's when I was a kid. I also had a model of it than ran on my old "N" Guage model train set. Pantographs & all! And by the way, that was when Penn Station had the dazzling super skylights that let in all that amazing daylight! Why they got rid of that I'll never understand. Amazing memories here. Thanks!
Thanks for posting these action shots from the crews view out the front of the GG-1. I did get to be inside the cab of a GG-1 one time when the engines were laying over in the yard for the once a year trip for the Army-Navy game. I was surprised how small the cabs were for the engineer and fireman but they were functional and worked well for many years.
Nice stuff. Good quality, great transfer. Shot at 0:33 is a ballast cleaning train, at 0:45 is actually Perryville,1:36 is at Baltimore, not Wilmington. 3:19 is Washington Union Station. 4:23 is Arsenal Tower in Phila.4:44 shows a pre-Schuylkill Expressway view. Thanks. Brings back memories.
Do I ever miss those GG-1s!! I grew up riding behind them from Baltimore to New York! Not the most scenic rail route but nonetheless fascinating-due to those GG-1s! As a kid they intrigued me as well! Nice seeing old views of the NEC through Maryland!
where it says 'Wilmington' is actually Baltimore, entering the tunnel at Greenmount Ave, through Baltimore Penn Station, then switching left at the Northern Central line into the Baltimore and Potomac Tunne under North Avel toward west Baltimore
Nice Video. I rode behind 2 GG1's out of Washington Union Terminal in 1964. Later I saw these on NJ Transit at South Amboy NJ in 1981. Thanks for using Benny Goodman's "Sing Sing Sing" with Gene Krupa on the drums. As a Big Band Trumpet player, that middle section is a beast to play.
Thank you so very much for preserving a piece of history for all to enjoy. In this cookie-cutter world were living in (what is the difference between rock, rap and country these days, I can't tell.) it's nice to see a beautiful and unique engine like the GG-1 in her heyday. I only wish I could have two things. This video in HD and architects that were allowed the freedom to design engines like these again.
Dennis V Sinclair I remember the gg 1s growing up in New Brunswick New Jersey I saw a lot of them on the Northeast Corridor pulling long freight trains and passenger trains near County interlocking
The station noted as Wilmington is actually Baltimore. The first tunnel is the "Union tunnel. The tunnel after the station is the B&P tunnel. Train is southbound to Washington.
Back in the late 50s early 60s my dad had a boat on the bush river just west of Havre de Grace watched many a gg1 crossing the river there!!!! Loved them!!! Back in early part of 20th century when my dad was young man he hopped freight trains from California home to Lancaster PA !!!! Wish I had the smart s to have written down the stories he told me about his trip back to PA. He go home Christmas day!!! I don't know the year!!! He passed in 1980!!!! If he was still with us he would be 111!!!
Nice find and nice work converting the film to a digital medium. It makes you wonder what other historical footage is just lying around in someones house or loft etc.
Great find! Great footage! Thanks for preserving them. I was always fascinated by the GG1's. My friend, Harv Kahn, turned me on to them. He passed away in 2004 but left me his slide collection to be caretaker and publisher of. I have finally assembled his GG1 images and put them in an e-book of 149 images. If you are interested at seeing a very unique look at these gg1s, check out "GG1 Images, 1975-1980 by Harv Kahn on Amazon. The thing that impressed me about Harv's GG1 images was his ability to capture the raw essence of the GG1 action in a variety of settings. He's got the no. 4800 in several paint schemes, including the Bi-Centennial, he's got the swapping action at South Amboy, action in Waverly Yard, Sunnyside, at Elizabeth, views inside the Wilmington shops and much more. If you are an avid fan of Gg1s you will like it.
The section that says Baldwin Pa., is actually Eddystone Borough Delaware County where the Bladwin Locomotive works was located right outside of Chester City Pa. This film is awesome, I used to work right outside of that line in Colwyn Pa, between Darby & South West Philly, The old smokestack and buildings are present in this film from the old Fells Naptha Factory. Unbelievable find, very nice. Thanks for posting, just wanted to make that correction.
Great video. Thank you for posting it. I particularly was interested in the part of the film as it goes through 30th Street Station. This film looks as though it may have been shot before the Schuylkill Expressway was built.
Yes,the GG-1 the most unique Locomotive ever build but most people dont know the rear story.the 1st one ever built had FT cabs on each end.It wrecked and was redesigned by Loey.
This is absolutely incorrect, and at the same time it's a good example of how we lose track of factual information over time. Raymond's last name Loewy, by the way.
Not so, Alpha Six -- the FT did not come along until 1939, whereas the first GG-1 arrived in 1934 (entered service in 1935) with a riveted shell ("Old Rivets") that was subsequently smoothed up by Raymond Loewy, utilizing a welded shell. There never any FT cabs involved. However, in 1945 a wrecked Great Northern Y-1 was repaired using an F-unit cab at each end, giving the motor a somewhat streamlined appearance.
A yard sale... wow... and kinda sad. Goodman very appropriate; that's about when the G's were brand new. Damn, I miss them. I was born in the wrong time.
It's a nice view. Has some locations wrong though. "Perryvile, DE" does not exist. It's Perryville, MD and they were already well south of that just north of the tunnels into Baltimore. "Wilmington, DE" is a real place, but they were pulling into Baltimore, MD at that point (out of the north tunnels, into the station, then out of the station through the south tunnels.
This is a great video, but there are two mistakes: At 1:37 it says Perryvile DE. That's wrong. It's the Charles St. tunnel entering Baltimore Penn Station. Also, Perryville is in MD not DE. At 1:56 it says Willmington DE. Nope, it's the approach to Baltimore Sta.
Thanks for for stopping by. There is more coming, but this time there will me no location on the video, because I just don't know the area that well. I'll leave it up to you people. Len.