Pennsylvania Railroad’s GG1 class has been widely recognized as one of most successful locomotive models ever built. The 80-foot long, 237-ton machines were capable of hauling trains at over 100 miles per hour, as they did between New York and Washington DC from the 1930s to the 1970s.

New Jersey’s GG1s, Nos. 4877 and 4879, were two of the last in service, serving in New York to South Amboy service until retirement in September 1983. To commemorate the GG1s’ history, No. 4877 was repainted from solid black to PRR’s “tuscan red” scheme in 1981 with cooperation between the Jersey Central Railway Historical Society and NJ Transit. Sister Locomotive 4879 was the last GG-1 to pull a revenue passenger train in New Jersey. Both were donated to the museum effort in 1991.

4877 is restored to its 1930s-era “5-stripe” paint scheme and 4879 is restored to its 1950s-era “single stripe” paint scheme. Both are stored at URHS’s Boonton Yard.