# 3334 - 1999 33c All Aboard!: Congressional

Issue Date: August 26, 1999
City: Cleveland, OH and Union, IL
Quantity: 6,000,000 panes of 20
Printed By: Ashton-Potter (USA) Ltd
Printing Method: Lithographed
Perforations: 11
Color: Multicolored

 

The Pennsylvania Railroad, called the “Pennsy,” was one of the largest transportation providers in the U.S. At its peak, the company served nearly one half of the nation’s population. It owned foundries, coal mines, power plants, grain elevators, hotels, boats, as well as a telephone and telegraph shop. This was all in addition to what one would imagine a railway would own, like land, stations, and locomotives. The Pennsy was so influential it was referred to as the state’s 51st senator.

 

The Pennsylvania Railroad’s best-known trains were the Broadway Limited, Spirit of St. Louis, and Congressional, which traveled between New York City and Washington, D.C. PRR converted from steam to electric power on the Congressional route and other select routes after it built Pennsylvania Station in New York City. Much of the track leading in and out of Penn Station was underground, so steam power was impractical. The Public Works Administration helped convert the tracks to electricity in the 1930s.

 

The Congressional was streamlined by industrial designer Raymond Loewy in 1935. He improved the look of the Pennsy’s GG-1 locomotives and redesigned the interiors of the cars. The “G’s” continued to haul passenger and freight for almost 50 years.