Pennsylvania Railroad 4876

At 8:38 AM on the morning of January 15, 1953, 4876 was the subject of a wreck while pulling the southbound Federal #173 from Boston, Massachusetts, to Washington, D.C. Upon nearing an "Approach" signal about 1 mile (1.6 km) outside of Washington, the engineer applied the brakes to slow the train down from 70 to 60 miles per hour (113 to 97 km/h).[5] Noting that the train still was not slowing after passing the signal, the engineer engaged the emergency brake and sounded the locomotive's horn. An assistant train director in Interlocking Tower 'C' observed the excessive speed of 4876, and radioed ahead to K Tower. The train director in K Tower already had the switches changed to allow 4876 to enter Union Station on Track 16, its regularly assigned track.[6] Having insufficient time to switch the runaway on to another track, the director alerted the station master's office, situated at the end of Track 16. The 4876 rammed the buffer stop, still traveling at around 35 to 40 miles per hour (56 to 64 km/h), and continued into the concourse of Union Station, before partially falling through the floor into the baggage room below.[7]

An investigation by the Interstate Commerce Commission discovered a design flaw in the passenger car used by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. If the handle of an angle cock came into contact with the bottom crossmember of the car's coupler pocket, the angle cock could inadvertently closed, rendering the brakes on any trailing cars inoperable.[8] The third car in 4876's train, New Haven passenger coach 8665, exhibited this design flaw. The fourth car was not of the same design, and had a different style of coupler. The difference between the two couplers increased the frequency and the intensity at which the angle cock would hit the crossmember.[9] On the morning of the day the accident occurred, the train had already reportedly stopped outside of Kingston, Rhode Island due to the brakes on the final two cars "sticking".[10] Upon inspection, the angle cock on car 8655 was found to be closed and was reopened by the engineer. Later along the route, the locomotive changed crews. During the change, the previous failed to pass the issue onto the following crew and the matter was forgotten, leading to a repeat angle cock closure and the eventual crash of the train.

With the inauguration of Dwight D. Eisenhower set to occur on January 20, the passenger cars were re-railed and 4876 was lowered the rest of the way into the baggage room. A temporary floor was erected over the locomotive so as to not impede the crowds traveling to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration.

After the crash, it was widely believed that after the presidential inauguration, 4876 was cut into three sections, hoisted out of the baggage room and reassembled in the Altoona shops. Since-published PRR documentation on the damage has surfaced that reveals the superstructure and frame were mostly scrapped in place.[11] Wreck cranes were not able to penetrate deep enough into the station concourse to lift out sections of the engine that large. The GG1 had to be cut into much smaller pieces so that they could be hauled up the baggage ramp and placed into gondola cars for the trip to Altoona. The PRR determined it was less expensive to reassemble 4876 than to write it off and replace it with a completely new locomotive (which would have cost three times as much). Structurally, the majority of the locomotive was beyond repair. Many self-contained components, such as the traction motors, wheels, axles, bearings and brake cylinders etc. were able to be reused. Parts of the driving truck frames, the main cab underframe, the carbody superstructure, pantographs, and couplers had to be newly built. By the following October, a like-new 4876 was released for service, outshopped in Tuscan red rather than the previous Dark Green Locomotive Enamel (DGLE).

The reconstructed 4876 was returned to DGLE, single stripe by 1956. It remained in service for approximately 30 more years with the PRR, Penn Central, Conrail and finally New Jersey Transit. In 1983 the locomotive was retired and donated for preservation. Originally slated for donation to the Smithsonian Institution, it was ultimately donated to the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.[12][13] Originally, the museum planned on cosmetically restoring 4876 and putting it on static display. These plans were placed on hold indefinitely when the museum's roundhouse roof collapsed in 2003, and the museum focused its efforts on restoring the equipment damaged by the collapse.[14][15] Since the inquisition, the locomotive has been stored outside since it was acquired by the museum. It has become defaced with graffiti and parts of its steel body have corroded.[15]