# GG-1 loco from 1953 WAS crash in need of restoration



## CHamilton (Apr 11, 2013)

Sixty Years After Barreling Through Union Station, GG-1 Locomotive Rusts Away in Baltimore


> Somewhere in the food court at Union Station, on a nondescript stretch of tile between the Great Steak and Potato Co. and China Kitchen, a rather smashing piece of D.C. history was made.
> 
> In 1953, a massive locomotive—Pennsylvania Railroad GG-1 No. 4876—plowed through the stationmaster's office and main newsstand before crashing through the floor coming to rest on the lower level, where the food court is today. The signs of destruction are long gone, but 60 years later—25 years after its engines gave their last dying hum—the runaway locomotive lies decomposing on a stretch of track in Baltimore.



The article tells the full story of the crash, and its aftermath.


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## the_traveler (Apr 11, 2013)

And here I thought you were saying that Eric (GG-1) needed restoration! :giggle:


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## CHamilton (Apr 11, 2013)

the_traveler said:


> And here I thought you were saying that Eric (GG-1) needed restoration! :giggle:


Don't think I didn't consider making a crack like that  but as far as I know, Eric never fell through the floor at WUS!


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## Bob Dylan (Apr 11, 2013)

CHamilton said:


> the_traveler said:
> 
> 
> > And here I thought you were saying that Eric (GG-1) needed restoration! :giggle:
> ...


Maybe @ 30th Street Station since he grew up around Philly! :giggle:


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## the_traveler (Apr 11, 2013)

jimhudson said:


> CHamilton said:
> 
> 
> > the_traveler said:
> ...


No, Eric is from the NYC area. Back when the Pony Express operated!  (Am I digging my hole deep enough?  )


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## CHamilton (Jan 17, 2016)

Some interesting comments and photos from the 1953 accident.

Runaway Train Crashes Through Union Station Lobby


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## caravanman (Jan 27, 2016)

A nice read, I missed the earlier posts, so just caught up in 2016.

Good to know that no one was killed.

I wonder if the conductor, if he was in the last cars, could have applied the air brakes to the rear portion too... probably we will never know.

Ed.


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## cirdan (Jan 28, 2016)

caravanman said:


> A nice read, I missed the earlier posts, so just caught up in 2016.
> 
> Good to know that no one was killed.
> 
> ...


I was thinking the same thing.

I guess pre-cellular phone, how would you have got the message to him?


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## caravanman (Jan 28, 2016)

I would imagine that the continuous horn blowing, and the excessive speed towards the end of the journey, over and above the norm, might have alerted him, if he was not asleep over the table in the cafe car. 

Ed.


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## CHamilton (Sep 18, 2017)

Site of the Union Station Train Crash in Washington, D.C.

http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/union-station-crash


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