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rlkitterman — The Fallen GG1
Published: 2013-09-27 00:59:04 +0000 UTC; Views: 1630; Favourites: 42; Downloads: 12
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Description
Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) GG1 No. 4876 holds an infamous place in railroad history. It was the locomotive that suffered a brake failure and crashed into Washington DC Union Station on 15 January 1953, just before the presidential inauguration of Dwight D Eisenhower. No. 4876 was sent to Altoona locomotive works, repaired, and returned to service. It was retired by Conrail in 1983 and sent to the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum, where it sits on an isolated siding, awaiting cosmetic (though not mechanical) restoration. It is the only GG1 to have ever had an accident.Related content
Comments: 12
last i've heard, B&O has no plans for restoration in the near future
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why did they preserve a locomotive that had an accident?
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I suppose it may have been due to the fame of the accident, and that the locomotive involved was repaired and returned to service.
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Classic runaway that reinforced the rule that when you break your consist and put it back togther, DO A FREAKING BRAKE TEST you lazy bastard!
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The problem didn't occur until the train was well under way. The locomotive and the first few cars had braking when the train crashed. The problem was in a design flaw in the New Haven Railroad passenger cars that were being used on the train. The problem was the placement of the air hose valves allowed for the valve lever to hit the car frame and shut the air line to the rest of the train. So as the GG1 was connected, the train was inspected and everything was normal. It even made it scheduled stops along the way with no problems. Sometime between the last stop and D.C. in train forces cause the valve lever to hit the frame of the passenger car and close thus only leaving the locomotive and the first three cars with braking power.
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should be restored a given pride of place in a museum.
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An amazing hunk of engineering, nothing wrong that a good lick of paint cannot fix.
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