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| Last updated on December 19, 2025
Two Pennsylvania Railroad P5a electrics roll northward with a freight at Halethorpe, Md., in the 1940s. Early P5a’s had box-cab carbodies; later versions with streamlined bodies, such as this pair, were known as “P5a modifieds.” Frank Clodfelter photo
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Remember that in passenger service, the PRR’s class P5a (modified)/P5am electric locomotives were only used for a short time until the GG1 was introduced in 1934. After this point, they were almost always used in freight traffic despite their top speed of 90 mph (145 km/h). They were retired in 1965 and today, the prototype #4700 is being preserved in the National Museum of Transportation in St Louis, Missouri.