PRR 1223

Pennsylvania Railroad 1223 is a 4-4-0 "American" type steam locomotive built in 1905 for the Pennsylvania Railroad by the railroad's own Altoona Works for passenger service. After being retired from active service, the locomotive ran excursion trains on the Strasburg Railroad in Strasburg, Pennsylvania from 1965 to 1989 when it was removed from service requiring firebox repairs. Currently the engine is on static display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979. The 1223 is the only surviving example of the Pennsylvania Railroad D16sb class.

History of class

The class D16 locomotives of the Pennsylvania Railroad were the most modern of a long history of 4-4-0 type steam locomotives that the railroad used. The 1223 was home built by the railroad at its Juniata Shops in Altoona, Pennsylvania, in 1905. As built it was a high speed passenger engine with tall driving wheels. However, the 4-4-0 type, long the mainstay of American passenger and freight service, was already becoming outmoded when the 1223 was built, being superseded by ever-larger engines. The Pennsy itself was pioneering steel passenger cars, which the public soon demanded for the implied increases in safety. The 1223 was eventually rebuilt with smaller driving wheels for local freight service, having been replaced on passenger trains by engines like the E6 Atlantics and K4 Pacifics. It was modernized as well, receiving superheaters [the "s" in D-16sb), piston valves, an electric headlight, and other improvements.

PRR 4876

Coordinates: 39°16′50.3″N 76°38′34.5″W / 39.280639°N 76.642917°W / 39.280639; -76.642917

PRR 4876 is a GG1-class electric locomotive located at the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland, United States. It was built in 1939 and was involved in the only accident to befall a GG1. In 1953, the locomotive overran the buffer stop and crashed into Union Station in Washington, D.C. after its brakes failed. A temporary concourse floor was erected over 4876 (which had broken through the original) for the upcoming inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower. After the inauguration it was shipped back to Altoona, Pennsylvania, for repairs and placed back into service.

Background

The GG1 was developed in the 1930s by General Electric as the replacement for the Pennsylvania Railroad's then standard electric locomotive, the P5a, and was based largely on the New Haven EP3. The GG1 was capable of a top speed of 100 miles per hour (160 km/h), powered by its twelve 385 horsepower (287 kW) traction motors. The prototype GG1, PRR 4800, was tested against Westinghouse's submission, the R1. The Pennsylvania selected the GG1 over the R1, as the R1 was not articulated and the GG1's traction motors were similar to ones already in use. An order for the first 57 of a total 139 GG1s was placed in November 1934, with delivery starting in April 1935.

PRR 1737

The Pennsylvania Railroad's K4s class Pacific number 1737 was the prototype of the class of 4-6-2 steam locomotives that eventually would number 425 locomotives.

The Pennsylvania Railroad in 1914 needed a steam locomotive to haul the passenger trains that the smaller E class Atlantics (4-4-2) could not handle. The 1737 was the first K4s ever built for the PRR. In passenger service, the 1737 would handle passenger trains, like the railroads flagship passenger train, the Broadway Limited. As the 1930s began, the 1737 and the other K4s locomotives would have to double-head passenger trains. This is because the Pennsylvania Railroad had increased passenger service time tables. The K4s Pacifics were unable to keep up with the work. The "Standard Railroad Of The World" made a few attempts to replace the 1737 and its sisters. They were the classes: K5, S1, and the T1. None of the replacements were very successful in railroad service. With these being a failure, the K4s had to continue hauling passenger trains until the Pennsylvania Railroad replaced steam locomotives with the increasingly popular and less costly diesel-electric locomotives in 1957.