Pennsylvania Railroad Engine GG1
What a beautiful design, and those things were built to last !!!
My first memory of the GG1 was around 1964 or 1965. I was 6 years
old, and my family was living on New Street in Newark. Every night
my father would take a drive to Penn Station to buy the Newark Evening
News. Every now and then he would take me and my sister with him.
While at the station, he would treat us to ice cream cones.....but
the BIGGEST treat (for me) was when we would take an escalator upstairs
to one of the platforms and wait for the next GG1 to arrive. Oh
my God, what a thrill. I still remember the cooler temperature of
that platform area...the train smell in the air. I would just stare
at the tracks all the way into the distance, feeling so excited.....Sure
enough, I'd see the headlight and hear that low horn as the train
entered the station.
To a 6 year old's eyes, it was like watching a movie star coming
towards me !! There it was again, that gigantic, loud, and powerful
GG1 passing right by and leaving me in awe. After the train would
stop, I would just stare at the passenger cars wondering about the
people inside and their destinations. I would watch the train pull
out until I could no longer see the red light on the last car. Then
dad would take us home and put this thrilled little boy to bed.
My dad took me often to that station. It was a simple act of love
and to make his son happy. And so, I am almost 60 and I still carry
a fascination with that engine....it symbolizes something special
in my heart
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