Pennsylvania Railroad class G5
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Pennsylvania Railroad The Pennsylvania Railroad (reporting mark PRR), legal name The Pennsylvania Railroad Company also known as the "Pennsy", was an American Class I railroad that was established in 1846 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was named ...
G5s was a class of
4-6-0 A 4-6-0 steam locomotive, under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives by wheel arrangement, has four leading wheels on two axles in a leading bogie and six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles with the abse ...
steam locomotives built by the PRR's
Juniata Shops Altoona Works (also known as Altoona Terminal) is a large railroad industrial complex in Altoona, Pennsylvania. It was built between 1850 and 1925 by the Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR), to supply the railroad with locomotives, railroad cars and relat ...
in the mid-late 1920s. It was designed for passenger trains, particularly on commuter lines, and became a fixture on suburban railroads (notably the
Long Island Rail Road The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
) until the mid-1950s. The G5s was the largest and most powerful 4-6-0 locomotive, except for a single Southern Pacific 4-6-0 that outweighed it by 5500 lb.


History and Design

In the 1920s the Pennsylvania Railroad needed a locomotive for commuter trains. When the first G5s rolled out of the Juniata shops in 1923, the Pennsylvania Railroad hadn't built a 4-6-0 in more than two decades. Mechanical Engineer William F. Kiesel Jr. who designed the engine used the boiler from an E6s
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and designed one of the largest and most powerful ten-wheelers ever built. Smaller drive wheels than an Atlantic and the lack of a trailing truck put more weight on the drivers and produced an engine with great power and acceleration but a lower top speed. The 4-6-0 wheel arrangement could provide sufficient tractive effort, (41,000 lbs of tractive force) but at the same time, allow the locomotive to accelerate the train more quickly. Such a design was ideal for the frequent stops on PRR commuter lines. 90 G5s locomotives were built for the PRR between 1923 and 1925 at the railroad's Juniata Shops in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Thirty-one more were built between 1924 and 1929 for the Long Island Rail Road, then a PRR subsidiary. Like the I1s Decapod the G5s was infamous among enginemen for rough riding; locomotive historian Alvin Staufer said "Riding qualities were sacrificed for power when Pennsy designed these G5s Ten Wheelers."


Service on the Pennsylvania Railroad

PRR's 90 G5s locomotives were used between cities and suburban areas. Many G5s's were in the
Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...
area, but the class was also used in New Jersey and around
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
and
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. However, the class was not limited to commuter service. In his book Pennsy Power, Alvin Staufer cites a G5s-led milk train that ran 145 miles daily through rural Pennsylvania, trailing an old combine for the occasional passenger - which sometimes included a hunter that the crew would let off at a clearing in the woods. Fan trips as early as the 1930s also were headed by ten-wheelers: "'Off the Beaten Track' excursions covering branch lines frequently drew G5s power, since larger engines were prohibited." Work trains were another assignment too menial for mainline power but fine for the versatile G5s, which often elicited adjectives such as "gutsy," "squat," "tough," or "husky." By 1929 it was the only 4-6-0 class remaining in service on the PRR.


Service on Long Island

The G5s was the primary passenger locomotive on the Long Island Railroad until the end of steam operations, sharing the duty with
K4s The Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) K4 4-6-2 "Pacific" (425 built 1914–1928, PRR Altoona, Baldwin) was its premier passenger-hauling steam locomotive from 1914 through the end of steam on the PRR in 1957. Attempts were made to replace the ...
's and other G5's leased from the PRR, as well as diesels such as the
Alco RS3 The ALCO RS-3 is a , B-B diesel-electric locomotive manufactured from May 1950 to August 1956 by American Locomotive Company (ALCO) and its subsidiary Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW). A total of 1,418 were produced: 1,265 for American railroa ...
that ultimately replaced them. The G5s locomotives on Long Island differed slightly from those produced for the PRR, with a larger tender typically used by the K4s. The G5s was the last steam locomotive to operate in revenue service on Long Island. The last seven in operation, numbers 21, 24, 32, 35, 38, 39, and 50, were in service until late 1955. In October of that year, a special "End of Steam Ceremony" was held at Hicksville. Engines 35 and 39 each pulled a single coach to the station with local Boy Scouts on board. Upon arriving, the coaches were uncoupled from the two steam engines, and each coupled to an
Alco RS3 The ALCO RS-3 is a , B-B diesel-electric locomotive manufactured from May 1950 to August 1956 by American Locomotive Company (ALCO) and its subsidiary Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW). A total of 1,418 were produced: 1,265 for American railroa ...
diesel locomotive. 35 and 39 were then coupled nose to nose, and ran west to the shops at Morris Park. 35 would run one more fantrip the following week.


Preservation

The G5s is one of the best preserved classes of Pennsy steam locomotives, with three surviving examples.PRR 5741 - Selected by the PRR itself for preservation upon its retirement, currently on permanent static display in the
Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania The Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania is a railroad museum in Strasburg, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. The museum is located on the east side of Strasburg along Pennsylvania Route 741. It is administered by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museu ...
. 5741 was added to the
National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...
in 1979 as Freight Locomotive No. 5741. LIRR 35 - Donated by the LIRR to Nassau County. 35 was displayed in
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until 1978, and is now based at the Oyster Bay Railroad Museum in Oyster Bay, NY. The museum is working to secure funding for the full restoration of the locomotive. This includes a conversion to oil firing, and possibly a new tender. Engine 35 was recently inspected by contractors from Steam Operations Corps, and thoroughly cleaned in preparation for the locomotive being shipped to Alabama for further restoration. It is currently sitting in pieces at the museum site. LIRR 39 - Offered by the LIRR to Suffolk County, it was rejected by the Suffolk County Board of Supervisors in 1956. LIRR then offered #39 for display to the Carriage Museum in Stony Brook, New York (presently, The
Long Island Museum of American Art, History & Carriages The Long Island Museum of American Art, History, and Carriages, known as the Long Island Museum (LIM), is a nine-acre museum located in Stony Brook, New York. The LIM serves the Long Island community by preserving and displaying its collection of ...
), where it was exhibited until 1980. In 1980, the Project #39 Restoration Committee moved the locomotive to Riverhead, New York, for restoration. In 1992, the engine came under the care of the
Railroad Museum of Long Island The Railroad Museum of Long Island is a railway museum based on the North Fork, of Long Island, New York, in the United States. It has two locations, the main location in Riverhead, and a satellite location in Greenport, west of the North ...
, (RMLI), based at Greenport and
Riverhead, New York Riverhead is a town within Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the north shore of Long Island. Since 1727, Riverhead has been the county seat of Suffolk County, though most county offices are in Hauppauge. As of the 2020 census, the po ...
. The boiler and firebox are currently being restored at the Strasburg Railroad Company, Strasburg, Pennsylvania, while the rest of the locomotive remains at Riverhead. In 2013, the RMLI initiated a nationwide fundraising effort to raise $900,000 towards the restoration of the locomotive. The restoration included an agreement to lease it to the Strasburg Rail Road for a period of 48 years, with Strasburg Rail Road contributing over $1 million additional towards its restoration. The locomotive may possibly be in full operation on the Strasburg Railroad in three to five years after fundraising goals are met.


References

{{Authority control Steam locomotives of the United States Transportation in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Railway locomotives introduced in 1923 Railway locomotives on the National Register of Historic Places in Pennsylvania 4-6-0 locomotives Baldwin locomotives Long Island Rail Road G5 National Register of Historic Places in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania Standard gauge locomotives of the United States