This Fine Art Models Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 No. 4828 is a 1:32 scale Gauge 1 model displayed with a Fine Art Models PRR N5 Cabin Car. The GG1 wears Pennsylvania Railroad’s Brunswick Green five-stripe scheme and is displayed on Fine Art Models’ electrified track base with catenary towers and wire.
TrainReference’s original photographs document the complete display as well as close-up details of the GG1 and the fully furnished interior of the N5 Cabin Car.
At a Glance
- Manufacturer: Fine Art Models
- GG1 road number: Pennsylvania Railroad 4828
- GG1 finish: Brunswick Green, five-stripe
- Cabin car: Pennsylvania Railroad N5
- Scale: 1:32
- Gauge: Gauge 1
- GG1 release: 1991
- N5 release: 1993
- N5 production: 100 models
- Display: Electrified track base with catenary
Fine Art Models GG1 No. 4828
The GG1 was Fine Art Models’ first 1:32 scale Gauge 1 locomotive project. Fine Art Models reproduced the Pennsylvania Railroad’s Brunswick Green GG1 fleet with individual road numbers and appropriate builder’s plates, including the No. 4828 documented here.
This model represents No. 4828 in the classic Pennsylvania Railroad five-stripe appearance. The TrainReference photographs clearly show the road number, gold PENNSYLVANIA lettering, PRR keystone and five gold body stripes.
GG1 Model Features
Fine Art Models designed the GG1 as both a highly detailed display model and an operating electric locomotive. Features include:
- Two 19-volt Pittman ball-bearing flywheel motors
- All 12 driving wheels powered
- Detailed cab interiors
- Lighted instrument panels
- Opening doors and windows
- Opening inspection covers
- Fully operating pantographs
- Individually sprung ball-bearing journals
- Detailed frame and brake equipment
- Electrified display base
- Catenary towers and overhead wire
The original TrainReference example was also accompanied by a custom wood storage box and certificate of authenticity.
Pennsylvania Railroad GG1
The Pennsylvania Railroad developed the GG1 during its major electrification program of the 1930s. The articulated electric locomotive combined high power with a streamlined body refined with input from industrial designer Raymond Loewy.
The GG1 used a 2-C+C-2 wheel arrangement and became one of the Pennsylvania Railroad’s most recognizable locomotives. A total of 139 were built, and the type remained in service under the Pennsylvania Railroad and successor operators for nearly five decades.
Fine Art Models N5 Cabin Car
The companion model is Fine Art Models’ Pennsylvania Railroad N5 Cabin Car. Pennsylvania Railroad used the term “cabin car” for what many other railroads called a caboose.
Fine Art Models released its 1:32 scale N5 in 1993 as a limited edition of 100 models. It represents the original N5 configuration rather than the separately produced N5C.
N5 Model Features
Fine Art Models reproduced the N5 with an unusually complete interior and numerous operating details. Features include:
- All-brass construction
- Real wood decking
- Individual road numbers
- Functional leaf springs
- Working brakes
- Opening journal-box covers
- Interior lighting
- Operating doors
- Real glass windows
- Removable roof
- Working marker lights
- Detailed interior
- Folding bunks
- Interior stove and furnishings
The TrainReference overhead photograph with the roof removed provides an excellent view of the interior, including the wood floor, bunks, partitions, stove and other furnishings.
Electrified Display
The GG1 is shown on Fine Art Models’ purpose-built display base with hand-laid track, ballast, catenary towers and overhead wire. Fine Art offered the N5 Cabin Car as an option with an enlarged display base capable of presenting the locomotive and cabin car together.
The TrainReference photographs document that combined presentation, with No. 4828 and the N5 positioned beneath the operating-style PRR catenary.
Identifying This Fine Art Models Set
The principal identifiers visible in the TrainReference photographs are:
- Manufacturer: Fine Art Models
- Locomotive: PRR GG1
- Road number: 4828
- Finish: Brunswick Green
- Striping: Five stripe
- Companion car: PRR N5 Cabin Car
- Scale: 1:32
- Gauge: Gauge 1
No individual Fine Art Models certificate or production number has been established from the available TrainReference photographs, so none is assigned here.
Original Photos
These photographs show Fine Art Models Pennsylvania Railroad GG1 No. 4828 and the N5 Cabin Car as originally documented by TrainReference, including the complete catenary display, locomotive details and N5 interior.
References and Further Reading
Related Gauge 1 References
Current Fine Art Models GG1 Listings
Current eBay listings related to Fine Art Models Pennsylvania GG1 locomotives are shown below. For the locomotive documented here, look for Fine Art Models, GG1 No. 4828, five-stripe Brunswick Green and 1:32 or Gauge 1.
I am fortunate to have the above combo . The GG1 is in Tuscan red. I believe it was limited to 10 pieces. I received the GG1 as a gift from the entertainer Frank Sinatra, while we were on tour. As many train collectors know, Frank was famous for his love of toy trains. We often gave each other gifts of trains for the holidays. For Christmas following the gift of the GG1, I gave him the cabin car along with one for myself and one for his personal manager. As his production manager and also as the co-producer of his final 3 musical albums, we shared a few colorful nights within the train house in his Rancho Mirage home. The train house was modeled after the classic Lionel tinplate station, with Railway express” carts and all. Adjacent to the train house was a “real scale” caboose.on tracks and ties. It housed a bar, barber shop, etc. Wonderful memories of a class act who lived life as full as one could.
HC