On January 15, 1953, Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 4876 leading The Federal from Boston, suffered an airbrake failure on approach to Washington Union Station and crashed spectacularly landing in the main concourse of the building. The floor collapsed under the weight of the heavy electric locomotive. Photographs of the disaster were printed on the front pages of newspapers around the country.

The locomotive was rebuilt and remained in service until 1983.

On June 27, 1983, my father, my brother Sean and I found the old electric resting at the motor storage in South Amboy, New Jersey.

At the time, the locomotive and South Amboy were a subjects of my model railroad interest.

I made this view on Kodachrome 64 with my Leica 3A with 50mm Summitar lens. The film had a red tint to it, that I’ve preserved in scanning. This can be easily color corrected.

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