As a kid in the 1960’s we would take the train from Princeton Junction to NYC to visit my grandparents, walking past the GG1 in Penn station as it sat there waiting for its next journey I could feel the pulsing hum of power. Between the size of that locomotive and the electrical hum emanating from it as it sat there it scared the crap out of me when I walked by it.

Given that the GG1's lasted in operation into the 80's, I would call them a success.  They were powerful and smooth riding, so smooth that even modern electric locomotives are hard pressed to cause less wear on the tracks as they did.

Disappointed that these videos don't show any of the specialized devices they describe. A simple picture would be most beneficial!

I remember a ride on the Pennsy's crack NY to Chicago train in the early '70s, before Amtrak.  I boarded at Harrisburg going to NY, sitting in front of me was a engineer who had just taken the trains partner in the opposite direction,the conductor joked with him that his making this connection was near impossible, he had exceeded the publish top speed by more than a little.  He certainly hadn't minded the cab ride westbound and now he could sit and relax on the ride home.  I had previously rode the high speed Metro cars from DC to NY and gotten to go up to the cab, What surprised me was how far outside the tracks the end cab would go on the turns, we were limited to 110mph and consistently, hit it.  There was a rough patch in the track outside Baltimore that the engineer promptly radioed in with a promise by the dispatcher to have a crew check it out.  I have since ridden on the TGV, the Eurostar out of London, and the Italian line into Rome.  I liked super first class on the Eurostar, emerging from the Chunnel, a beautiful blonde train attendant welcomed us to France with a glass of champaign, that's real first class!

Working next to the Main Line tracks in Paoli, 1980, I was out on a break, not ten feet from the rails.  Ambient noise likely hid the tracks clicking and before I knew it, a green GG-1 blasted by with an inbound passenger train.   Never so startled in my life; quiet as a ghost.
Excellent content but the reversed images you offer are curious.

As a nine-year-old (1958) my g-parents took my sister and I from NY-Penn to Charleston SC, I was impressed by the Tuscan red GG1 that was pulling us on our journey, I wanted to see what the cab was like.

I love the GG1's. The first time I saw one was my dad's HO Scale 1970's Tyco silver with 6-axle trucks and a fuel tank (LOL yeah, it was the 70's). It ran so smooth in both directions and could pull more than 7 cars on 18-inch radius track. I ran that engine more than the other models.

I just ordered my first GG1 from Winkies hobby in pa. Great store to sell you a great train that will never be seen again. What a time to be alive..

Oh boy, I ran those G's from 76 till sometime around June of 81. They were hot in the summer and cold in the winter, and when it rained, for get about it. Those windshields had so many leaks. I wished I was around sooner to run them in there heyday. I never had a G in freight service, all E-44's and a couple of E-33's. The timing whistle for the cab signals was so loud. Been retired eight years now and love watching these old videos. The AEM7's were affectionately known as Swedish meatballs or toasters, as that's what they looked like.

Watched many of these beauties cruise through the Metuchen, NJ station growing up. Beautiful engines. Thanks for the video.

I had a great uncle (my grandmother's brother) who worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad.  When they finished the electrified service from New York City to Washington DC, he became the youngest engineer on the electrified service on that run.  So he most likely drove the GG1.  His brother as well as my great grandfather also worked for the Pennsylvania Railroad.

I had the pleasure in 1972  of riding a GG1 from DC to NYC.  It was in Amtrak Livery and I remember the exceptionally loud sound of the blowers as it powered up from a start. It was fast and very smooth although the trip was twice the time of the Metro-liner.

A beautiful, state of the 1930s art locomotive that I have watched, and now miss on the curve into Elizabeth, NJ.

Thanks for a very interesting video. Two things come to mind here: the first is that it would be interesting to see how the gear arrangement for the 12 traction motors was set up, and secondly, after about the 9 minute mark in the video, all scenes are back-to-front until around the 15 minute mark. Also, more views inside the physical loco along with sound of them in service would be nice.

At 0:23 you can see 4871. It derailed in 1960 at Frazer PA and rolled down the embankment. My Dad was there in the lifting and rerailing. It took four tries to get it back to the tracks. I have the pictures. My Dad worked for the Pennsy and it's descendants for 47 years. I worked for Septa Rail division for 35 years. Dad used to say "I wish I had a nickel for every mile on one of those GG1's so I wouldn't have to work so much overtime to feed you kids" 🚂

He really could cut down on the overly-dramatic purple prose. I don't think I've ever heard more overwrought adjectives and adverbs ever!

Quite possibly the most beautiful electric ever built anywhere on the globe...

I think the video does a good job of describing the engineering tradeoffs in the design. I'd bet there were a lot of meetings to discuss where to trade off x for y.  There must have not been someone from maintenance dept present when the final design and testing were done.  No matter how elegant the final product, maintenance costs can kill a company.   The design goals for speed and power may have been too much for the technology of the day.  Still, they built and ran an incredible machine.  One wonders if they made different tradeoffs if things would have turned out better.

I love your details but could you include diagrams or pictures of the devices you are describing instead of the continuous reel of the same stock photos?

there are those in conrail and amtrak to this day talk with reverence of the GG 1 and the design of the shell was for the protection of crews