I'm not a fan of railroad museums in the same way I'm not a fan of zoos. The photo angles are usually poor, the photo opportunities aren't very unique, the equipment isn't doing anything, the equipment isn't going anywhere and, at least to me, the environment doesn't seem very meaningful. Perhaps more importantly I find most Museums to be an exhaustible resource in that the utility of repeat viewings rapidly decreases because the collections are largely static. These reasons explain I logged a gap of nearly 20 years between visits to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, despite it having a superb collection of rolling stock from my favorite railroad. In fact it had been so long since I had been to the RR Museum of PA that my previous trip was documented with a film camera. The good news was that my lack of attention meant that I had plenty of things to take photos of without incurring wasteful duplication. While the collection has seen some unfortunate removals, notably the Pioneer III's, it had also gained items such as the Amtrak AEM-7 and E60 with others seeing cosmetic restorations. With something like a $25 admission, putting off a return visit for two decades was clearly a high value proposition ;-)
You can see all of the photos from this set
here (
mirror) and unlike most of my photos photo sets that are mostly signals and infrastructure, this set is non-stop rolling stock.
For promotional purposes the museum has parked some of its collection on a pair of tracks outside the main facility. There seems to be a sort of history of Northeast Corridor traction going as three of the four items comprise mainstays of NEC electric haulage, A
PRR DD1 (1911-1933), a
PRR GG1 (1934-1980) and an
Amtrak AEM-7 (1981-2016). PRR DD1 #3937/3936 was one of 33 of its class built for the 1911 Penn Station electrification project. Each end of a DD1 was effectively an independent locomotive which resulted in the PRR giving a separate numbering each end (locomotives were then dispatched using a separate Electrified Zone Number). The rod and jackshaft driven steam locomotive style driving wheels were powered by a
single monster 2100hp Westinghouse DC motor inside the box cab carbody for a total of 4200hp, which was a lot in 1911. Since being parked outside
since at least 2010 ##3937/3936 has suffered from significant vandalism and deterioration from the elements.
Pennsylvania Railroad prototype GG1
#4800
was built in 1934 as the first of 139 other units that would follow and
was the only one constructed with riveted skin. Identified as a
national Mechanical Engineering Landmark, #4800 is actually owned by the
Lancaster Chapter NRHS and is only on display at the museum. For this
reason the historically priceless locomotive sits outside in the
elements and a generally unrestored condition.
I had had been under the impression that Amtrak AEM-7AC #915 had suffered from a fire, but I
guess I was wrong. Fortunately a DC AEM-7 example (#945) was preserved
by the Illinois Railway Museum.
Moving inside the museum the train hall is divided between the original,
low ceiling dimly hit half and the newer, high ceiling brightly lit
half. The hall has four through tracks, with a lot of space devoted to
wooden equipment that would not do well outside as well as equipment
that has been cosmetically restored.
PRR E2/E7 Light Atlantic
#7002 was re-numbered prior to preservation in honor of the original #7002 which set a world land speed record in 1902 of 127mph. General anti-PRR sentiment resulted in the probably record never being acknowledged. Superheating and other improvements led to many E2 and E3 class Atlantics being reclassified as E7's before being retired between the 1930's and 1950's.
The
PRR Class A5s
were the largest 0-4-0 switchers ever built and represented the PRR's
propensity to beef up existing locomotive types as opposed to investing
in unproven technology. Built into the 1920's, the A5s' were an absolute
monster with 38 sq ft of grate area, power reverse and
superheating.
#94 is the sole remaining example of this class and has had the sheet
metal around the boiler removed due to asbestos abatement.
The parade of thicc PRR locomotives continues with
G5s 4-6-0 Ten Wheeler
#5741. The 90 G5 locomotives were the largest and most powerful series
production 4-6-0's ever built and formed the backbone of the PRR's
non-electrified suburban services until the arrival of diesels. Most
commonly encountered around Pittsburgh, G5s also operated north of
Baltimore, in South Jersey and on Long Island where the LIRR operated
its own fleet of 31.
The 2-8-0 Consolidation was the GP38 of the PRR's steam
era freight fleet with over 3000 of all types on the roster with 1700 of
those being
class H6
like #2846 shown here. This insane number of locomotives hints at the
generally low availability of steam traction with large periods of down
time needed to service the boiler, which was further impacted by the
need for frequent shop overhauls or other major repair work.
This chonky beast is PRR
Class E6
Heavy Atlantic #460, notable for beating a commercial airliner in a
race to deliver the newsreel footage of Charles Lindbergh's return to
Washington, DC to New York area cinemas. The victory proved the death
knell for the fad of air transportation and ultimately lead to the
continent spanning high speed rail network we enjoy today. Unlike the
G5s', the E6 Atlantics were only the
second largest type ever
built, with the trophy belonging to the Milwaukee Road's A class. They
could still produce over 2400hp and were in service well into the
1950's.
