omigosh! am i seeing things?

[Woody Elmore]

to John T - my godfather's father worked in one of the towers in Sunnyside. He started with the railroad as a, if you can believe this - a telegrapher! So my godfather had a ringside seat as he often was in the tower with his father - not much worry about security back then.

Jerry - you can't expect Bachmann to bring out all the GG-1 paint schemes. My favorite (other than the traditional brunswick green with five cat whiskers) has to be the silver with red stripe. I think the scheme was designed to match a train - the Congressional, if I recall correctly.

The saddest scheme of all (which was no scheme) was black with the ridiculous PC worm applied. How cheap could they get? (answer - pretty cheap!) At least they painted the engines black.

I once went cross country by car with friends. On the way back we passed a railroad yard in Indianapolis. Sitting with a train was an E-8 or something similar. It was painted in PC black. With the afternoon sun hitting it broadside you could see the PRR broad stripe under the awful black paint. That whole PC era was a sad one for railroads and railfans alike.

[Jerrys HO]

Sorry Woody,

I should have been more specific. I was answering to stationmaster12's post about the SD's, but i can say the GG-1's are not on the top of my list either.

Jerry

[jward]

I agree with woody about pc being depressing. the whole railroad was falling apart before our very eyes. conditions were so bad, standing trains were derailing ii in Conway yard. the rail would roll under them as the ties were so rotten the spikes couldn't hold the rail.

I remember the gg1s well, and I've always loved them. my dad used to take me to Enola, where they changed from electric to diesel. the single stripe with the large keystone was my favourite, as that's the way they were painted when I saw them.

[john tricarico]

wow woody, many of the old towers in sunnyside are gone, they even built a new harold tower, and now with the new east side acess going on theres major redoing of the loop end of the yard.
as far as you mentioned security penn central was not there, they were very lucky there was never any problems in the yard years back, today its all fenced up all around from hunters point avenue along skillman avenue across 43rd st and down northern boulevard
check my facebook page for GG1 pictures

[Doneldon]

The saddest scheme of all (which was no scheme) was black with the ridiculous PC worm applied. How cheap could they get? (answer - pretty cheap!)

Woody-

You don't suppose that "PC" stood for "Pretty Cheap," do you?

                                                                                   -- D

[john tricarico]

ok ok i agree the penn central paint scheme was bland
but they did have a GG1 with the P in red and C in white i believe one
or two GG1s was done up this way
also hey woody
i saw a few penn central E8s in the late 70s in elizabethport nj yard and the paint was so faded your saw the tuscan and keystones in pennsylvania reappearing
now bachmann
you have a great engine here,, sure there are plenty of paint jobs and variations to do ,,im sure you will not disappoint us

[quark51]

I was hoping to see the Conrail bicentennial unit.

[john tricarico]

hi quark
perhaps bachmann someday will do the conrail 4800 bicentennial version
it was a bit gaudy, when i saw the engine in 1976 at conrails kearny yard in n.j. ,
it needed to be washed,the only GG1 to have silver painted trucks

[Thommo]

GG1 #4800, nicknamed "Rivets", was the original one, only engine that had riveted body. Other 130+ was made with welded body, so the body was smooth, no rivets.

Also, I think that the #4800 was the only GG1 later colored in Conrail blue.

[GG1onFordsDTandI]

Anyone know how 4935 "blackjack" got its name? Just the color thing and some luck?

[J3a-614]

GG1, I think one of the stories about No. 4935 is that if you add up its numbers (4+9+3+5) you get a total of 21, the winning score in the card game of that name.

[GG1onFordsDTandI]

Ha! That's great! Luck had everything to do with it!
Thanks J3a

[Woody Elmore]

Just what I wanted to see - a Conrail blue GG-1 with a big can opener painted on its side. Is Old Rivets preserved somewhere?

[J3a-614]

Yes, "Rivets" is still around, in the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, in her 1930s-era paint.

[JHawkins]

Now, all we need is a Conrail 1776 GG-1.