January 15th—GG1 4876 and the Anniversary of the Federal Express Wreck.

January 15th is the anniversary of the 1953 Washington Union Terminal crash, when Pennsylvania Railroad’s GG1 4876 leading the Federal Express lost its brakes and careened into the lobby of the terminal. This spectacular train wreck, on the eve of Eisenhower’s inauguration, made headlines in every major newspaper across the country.

On June 27, 1983, I exposed this view of GG1 4876 at Linden, New Jersey working from South Amboy, New Jersey to New York Penn Station with a New York & Long Branch passenger train.

Kodachrome 64 with Leica 3A and 50mm Summitar lens.

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One comment on “January 15th—GG1 4876 and the Anniversary of the Federal Express Wreck.

  1. Dennis Hage on said:

    I think the Platform between the 2 NB tracks and the 4 track is gone now. I used to go down there with Ralph Anastasio and take some pictures Linden was a good place. It was easy to park and if we went to the southern most area where the track to the Linden GM Plant diverged, we could even sit in the car until a GG-1 or others would appear in the curve by Rahway.

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