No. 10118 2-C+C-2 GG-1 Electric Locomotive, heading up the Deluxe Streamlined Passenger Train, the "Congressional"

Pennsylvania Railroad

In March of 1952, the Pennsylvania Railroad introduced handsome new equipment on its esteemed “Congressional” runs between New York and Washington D.C. Attired in gleaming stainless steel with Tuscan red letterboards and gold lettering, the Budd-built streamlined passenger cars’ interiors reflected 18th Century colonial themes such as Betsy Ross, Molly Pitcher, Ben Franklin, and George Washington. Newly painted Raymond Loewy-designed 4620 horsepower GG-1 electric locomotives (see No. 10078) pulled the “Congressionals,” a corridor service in the Northeast that was first established in the 1880s.  There were four complete trainsets, two for “Congressional” service and two for the complementary “Senator” (see No. 10494) trains.  The “Congressional” and “Senator” names continued (and many of their cars) into Amtrak service in 1971. Each of the two “Congressional” trainsets totaled eighteen cars, including eight coaches, seven parlor cars, a full lunch counter car, and a twin-unit dining car.  "Congressional" service eventually was tripled by running a "Morning Congressional," a "Mid-Day Congressional," and an "Afternoon Congressional." 
 
Nos. 10118, 10119, and 10120 represent an accurate model in “0" gauge by MTH of the unique deluxe “Congressional” passenger trains, headed up by a fleet of six specially painted Tuscan red GG-1s, which also powered the two “Senator” trains.  This is the train as it would have been seen 1952 - 1960s.  This scale model train has seven streamlined coach cars.
 
As a footnote, the “Congressional” began service as the “Congressional Limited” in 1882 as a prestige steam-powered all-parlor train between New York and Washington (a 5-hour trip). The route was electrified in 1935, and from then on the speedy and powerful GG-1s took over, serving well into the Amtrak era of the 1970s. The GG-1 powered “Congressionals” of the late 1930s and 1940s made the New York-Washington run in 3 hours and 35 minutes (226 miles).  
 
The “Congressional” trains of the 1950s to the 1970s could speed up to 110 mph between New York and Washington, a trip of 3 hours and 35 minutes. Amtrak’s “Metroliner” service, established by Penn Central Railroad in 1969 (see No.10207) and upgraded in 1979 (see No. 10107), replaced “Congressional” service by 1979. “Metroliners” were faster (125 mph) and could make the run in 3 hours flat. Then, in 2000, came the “Acela Express” (see No.  10638), a completely new design as a high-speed (150 mph) trainset, that shaved another 15 minutes off the travel time at 2 hours and 45 minutes, almost an hour less than the “Congressionals.”