No. 10128 2-C+C-2 GG-1 Electric Locomotive, heading up the Deluxe Heavyweight Passenger Train "Broadway Limited"

Pennsylvania Railroad

The Pennsylvania Railroad needed a new streamlined electric locomotive to head up its new “Fleet of Modernism” passenger trains in the early 1930s, and took delivery of 58 of the Raymond Loewy designed 4620-horsepower GG-1s in 1935-36 (see No. 10078 for more information on the GG-1 locomotive). 
 
All of these locomotives were painted dark Brunswick green with five gold stripes along the sides, particularly for East-West service on the Pennsylvania Railroad. One of the distinguished East-West trains was the New York-Chicago “Broadway Limited,” and the first class heavyweight Tuscan red train was assigned the GG-1 in 1936 on its run on the electrified segment of Pennsylvania’s system New York-Philadelphia, PA, where a K-4 steam locomotive would be coupled to the train to take it to Chicago. GG-1s continued to pull the heavyweight “Broadway Limited” until 1938, when streamlined lightweight passenger cars were introduced.
 
No. 10128 represents an accurate scale model in “0" gauge by MTH of the Brunswick green 5-stripe GG-1, pulling the 5-car deluxe heavyweight all-Pullman train in Tucson red (No. 10129) “Broadway Limited” as it would have been seen on the New York-Philadelphia segment of its run to Chicago 1936-1938. Electrification was extended west to Harrisburg in 1938.
 
As a footnote, the “Broadway Limited” New York-Chicago service was established over the 908 miles in November, 1912, on a 20-hour schedule, to be competitive with New York Central’s prestige train, the “20th Century Limited,” established in 1902 (see Nos. 10073 and 10156). Although the Tuscan red “Broadway Limited” never attained the fame or popularity of the “20th Century Limited”, it did keep pace by offering everything expected of a luxury train, including a lady’s maid, manicurist, barber, and secretary for busy executives. Dining car tables were set with china and silver and stewards wore dinner jackets. The menus were varied and the chefs were skilled.
 
Industrial Designer Raymond Loewy oversaw the streamlining of the “Broadway Limited” in 1938. The new two-tone Tuscan red and maroon lightweight streamlined cars were pulled by stylish Loewy-designed Brunswick green GG-1 electric locomotives under catenary from New York to Harrisburg, and then by faithful  K-4 “Pacific” steam locomotives (see No. 10144) or the revolutionary steam turbine locomotive S-2 (see no. 10124) west of Harrisburg to Chicago. Like the new Henry Dreyfuss designed “20th Century Limited” (see No. 10156), the “Broadway Limited” was an all-Pullman all-private-room train, part of Pennsylvania’s new “Fleet of Modernism,” operating on a fast 16-hour schedule between New York and Chicago. Diesel locomotives replaced steam west of Harrisburg, starting in 1948.
 
In the end the “Broadway Limited” outlasted its worthy rival - both trains made their last all-Pullman runs in 1967, and when Amtrak took over in1971, it was the “Broadway Limited” name and route that survived, but back to a leisurely 20-hour schedule, about the same as the 1912 train. The Amtrak “Broadway Limited” was a coach-and-sleeper operation, downgraded from the pre-1967 all-Pullman consist. Amtrak discontinued “Broadway Limited” service in 1995.