Pennsy Railcar Restorations LLC is pleased to announce that we will be restoring GG1 4879 to operating condition for a private client!

No, we do not plan on stringing catenary all though out the East coast. When this GG1 was removed from service, all of its electrical components were removed for PCB remediation. That left plenty of room for a prime mover and main generator!

Yes, the GG1 is going to be dieselized. Now, I know all of the PRR purists are loading their weapons and forming a posse for me. The plan, which has been in the works for many months, is to use a prime mover, main generator, and electrical components from a SW1200 that was being scrapped because of un-repairable frame damage. We have also been able to get a tap changer, the type used in E60s to convert the 60 cycle to 25 cycle, to run any of those components. This will allow a GG1 to move under its own power with enough energy to pull several cars.

This is a very exciting plan and opportunity for us and the railroad community. Please visit our site regularly for photos and updates.

Scott Kwiatkowski
www.prrllc.com

you're a day early..
April fools day is tomorrow! ;)

Scot

Actually, there's room under the hood of a GG-1 for a boiler, a water tank and a bunker with a few tons of coal. If you rigged it so the exhaust & smoke came out by the traction motors, you'd have a REAL conversation piece.

WHY?

Unorthodox, yes, but I wouldn't mind seeing it. Heaven knows there are enough GG1s "preserved" that it wouldn't hurt much to make one run this way.

Yeah, guys, I think this is a joke.
At least, I hope it is!

If this isn't a 4/1 joke, there will finally be a prototype for all those HO scale G's running with no wires in sight. :o)

Why not just carry a couple of miles of extension cord? ????

I'd always joked about the Piedmont Northern loco we had at SERM for a while that we should put a flat car in front, one behind, use poles on the cars to string overhead, and connect a power car (i.e. a B unit w/o traction motors) to the overhead.
Why not for a GG1? No wire wear, no need to electrify the entire route. And the pan is being used.
Doug

There are some discrepancies in the announcement. First of all, I don't think a "tap changer" can change the frequency of AC; it changes the turns ratio, and thus the output voltage, of a transformer. Second, the generator of an SW-1200 puts out DC. I'm not that familiar with the "innards" of a GG-1, but I suspect it would take serious rebuilding to get the motors to run on DC.
(I'm in Southern California, so anything Pennsy is a bit exotic, although I used to work with a fellow who had GG-1, K4s and Tuscan red train photos in his office, and I know the owner of an ex-PRR passenger car.)

I'm going to stick my head in the noose of 4/1 on this one.

While not horribly familiar with the PRR electrification I have read some about the GN system which was bassed on the Pennsy's. While the catanary was 25 hz AC the traction motors were still 600VDC. A transformer dropped the line voltage to somewhere in the range of 2160VAC which ran a motor generator set producing the 600 VDC to power the traction motors. The high voltage slow cycle used in the cat provided good transmission over the distance with minimal drop.

So throwing a EMD engine/generator in the carbody would be conceivable. I'd be very careful of letting the magic smoke out of the generator if it were hooked up to all those motors

BTW where is the 4879?

Paul

Maybe they can run it through the platform at Washington Union Station annually, as a fund raiser for similar restoration projects!

Great prank!

PRR did not use Lucas components. I'm more concerned about the Tesla effect of energy leaking out of the spaces between the electrons and the protons and neutrons.

dave

Not far fetched at all. This schematic, while fascinating to look at, proves without a doubt, the feasibility of this scenario...

Hey, isn't that the diagram for Doc Brown's DeLorean???

Why not use a HEP plant in a B-60 baggage car? It would give a new meaning to the phrase "Head End Power"......