Rail Transportation

The 4,620-horsepower GG1 was primarily a passenger locomotive, routinely operating at over 100 miles per hour, but was used in freight service as well. Conceived by the Pennsylvania Railroad and built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works and General Electric Company, No. 4800 logged nearly 5 million miles in its forty-five-year life. It was the prototype for a 139-unit fleet built during a decade to serve on the PRR's electrified lines, and the only one with a riveted body shell; the remainder were welded.

Developed for use in both the plains and mountains, this coal-fired passenger locomotive was among the most advanced in design, construction, and performance of any 4-8-4. Designed by Norfolk & Western engineers and built in the Norfolk & Western Roanoke shops, the 611 was specially balanced to minimize rail damage at high speeds. No. 611, eleventh of fourteen constructed and the last survivor, was retired from service and donated to the Roanoke Transportation Museum in 1959.

People thought inventor Walter Aiken was crazy when he proposed a railway to the top of Mt. Washington.  Aiken built a model of the roadbed and track with a cog rail system, but entrepreneur Sylvester Marsh is credited for launching the Cog Railway and bringing Aiken's ideas to fruition.

In 1858 Marsh applied to the New Hampshire Legislature for a charter to build and operate the steam railway and was granted permission in 1859.  Legend has it that an amendment was added offering permission to extend the railway to the moon.

This was a pioneering venture in mainline railroad electrification and was a proving ground for railroad electrification technology. It established single-phase alternating current as a technical and economical alternative to direct current. This concept exerted considerable influence over subsequent systems both in the United States and abroad. The major components of the system were developed by the engineering staffs of the New York, New Haven & Hartford Railroad and the Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company of East Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.