In 1974 Robert C. Hendrich partnered with John Trescott to model the famous Pennsylvania Railroad GG-1 Electric
locomotive in 2⅛" Standard gauge for 3-rail tinplate track. Nothing like this had ever been made before.
Bob Hendrich made the GG-1 under the Gold Standard Engineering name. These 28" long behemoths weighed close to
30 pounds and could operate on standard 42" radius track curves. The Gold Standard Engineering GG-1's are very
robust and powerful. The bodies are cast aluminum and they were fitted with 2 large motors for power.
The GG-1 could pull almost anything. The locomotive came painted in Tuscan brown or Brunswick green.
When Bob Hendrich was a small boy growing up his childhood ambition was to have a
Standard gauge train. At the age of nine he bought a pile of sheet metal pieces that included a
Lionel #42 loco and passenger cars. Over the succeeding years, Bob rebuilt, improved,
added to, and frequently ran his #42. He also scratch-built several locomotives and cars in several scales
including live steam and obtained career experience with casting and machining parts and the related
manufacturing techniques.
Bob was inspired to build a limited number of Standard Gauge engines which would
fulfill several objectives. His first priority was that it must be of absolutely first class construction, with a large
wearing surface to endure for generations and which no one would ever be afraid to run and run with no fear of wearing out
or breaking anything. Secondly, it should be of a realistic proportion, much as O72 did in 'O' gauge, thus combining prototype
realism with Standard gauge. Thirdly, it must be able to negotiate regular track on the 42" circles that came with all Standard gauge
trains of the period (72" radius track was not out yet). And finally, there should be adequate power to pull a heavy train as realism was not a
3 or 4 car set from the catalogue but 15 or 20 cars in a heavy limited consist. The GG-1 was selected as the intended engine to model, as it met
these criteria, and it was unique.
The first step in the development process was to lay out a design of the basic engine on a drawing board. Then a
chassis was made up and tried out. It ran well and had sufficient power and control. It was quiet and ran through S curves, and switches, pushing
or pulling cars adequately. The body was the next hurdle. First just to make it and secondly to afford it. Some time was wasted trying for a
fiberglass body but this proved impossible and Bob returned to using metal which he felt all along was more in keeping with what he wanted this
locomotive to be. John Trescott was the mold maker. Many times during the course of body construction the pattern was taken to foundries
and information gained from experts. These ideas were incorporated and a sample casting was made. It was just what Bob Hendrich had hoped for and
it finished up beautifully. Several more were made but this next batch was a disappointment. There was nothing really wrong but the work had not
been done with care and it was decided that this was just not up to par and they went back into the pot. The next group came out just as Bob
wanted and everything was ready for assembly of a prototype.
The patterns for the cast bronze trucks with steel wheels were straightforward and went well. Motors were no problem either. Bob had always
planned to use commercially available motors and these 1/35 HP 12 volt universal motors had two field windings, twelve poles on the armature and
spherical self-aligning bronze bushings on a quarter inch diameter ground steel shaft. The gears were industrial steel gears and Bob was certain
that they would last for many years. All twelve wheels in the power trucks were geared and driven via the worm drive. The wheels and axles were
turned from cold-rolled steel bar and it was just inconceivable that anyone could ever run an engine enough to show any wear. The prototype was
tested thoroughly and it pulled as many as 26 cars, which was all Bob had or could borrow, around the layout of Gargraves track in his garage.
This was a far cry from its first run which was over regular tinplate track, laid out on the front lawn. Only after the first run was it noticed
that the gears were full of grass and weeds, but the power never dropped off! It was however the first and last time it was run on the lawn. Bob
lived in Glendora, CA and he made most of his trains there in his Southern California home.
Around this time small Standard gauge train manufacturers and craftsman like Glenn Gerhard of
Glenn Toy Trains and Willard Forney of Forney Trains were producing highly detailed freight
cars using heavier plate steel and cast metal. These cars required a heavy locomotive to pull a decent consist, such as the
Lionel #400E or #408E. Even better would be one of the huge GG-1's in Standard gauge which Bob Hendrich built.
There were only somewhere between 58 and 62 of the Bob Hendrich designed Standard gauge GG-1's ever produced. They are
sometimes also found in G gauge 2-rail, as several units were fitted with G gauge trucks. 40 or so were standard gauge, with the Tuscan Red
model being more common than the Brunswick Green example. The remaining models were delivered with the G Scale running gear. Bob Hendrich
serialized the GG-1 models by stamping a serial number in the bottom edge of the body casting, right between the two power trucks. Knowing
that his glorious machines were quite heavy, he made it easy for folks to see the serial numbers, by stamping them in reverse, so that one can
simply put a small mirror below the number and read it.
Over time, as Hendrich issued his GG-1 model, he continued to improve each new locomotive as he went along. No. 20 was a
significant turning point in the GG-1's evolution. The first models were delivered with 20:1 gearing and the two motors were wired in series,
so the loco required 20 to 30 volts to run. After serial No. 20, the motors were changed from the original Dayton motors to Redmond motors, which
were then wired in parallel, so they only required 12 to 20 volts to operate. In addition, the gearing was changed to 10:1, which gave the model a
bit more speed. Pulling power was never an issue!
Bob Hendrich of Gold Standard Engineering worked on several other projects besides his GG-1. He also converted some of
Glenn Gerhard's (Glenn Toy Co.) Standard gauge 0-6-0 steam switcher locomotive kits to 2-6-2 Prairie's.
Only 5 to 7 of these conversions are known to exist. The converted switchers operate on 3-rail Standard gauge track. The boiler and tender are
cast aluminum, and feature cast iron wheels. The drivers on the locomotive have cast brass centers with cast iron tires. The drive rods are nickel
silver and nickel plated brass. The engine is powered by a large Pittman motor. The loco and tender are fitted with plastic knuckle couplers. The
loco has an operating headlight and marker lights, while the tender has a rear mounted headlight. A toggle switch mounted in the cab facilitates
changing direction from forward to reverse. The combined unit is 31" long, 4½" wide, 6½" high and weighs 23 pounds.
Another interesting Bob Hendrich Standard gauge project is a highly detailed scale model of the Norfolk & Western 2-6-6-4
#1218 (the #1218 is the last surviving one of these real 4-cylinder articulated locomotives and is on display at the Virginia Museum of
Transportation in Roanoke, Virginia). This locomotive model sits in a static display (wheels and drivers run while loco stays in place) at the
Langton House in Pasadena, CA. This house is a famous location for film production and was most notably featured as the exterior establishing shot
of the governor's mansion in the TV show Benson. There is also a 36' x 16' American Flyer S gauge
layout in the mansion on the 3rd floor in the Ballroom of the house. The house also features Robert Langton's extensive toy train, model car
and bicycle collection displayed in other rooms. The modular train layout owners/designers/operators were Don Hasty and Bob Knee. Five (5) trains
can run simultaneously on this layout. Equipment operated includes several custom-built S gauge locomotives made by Robert Hendrich, including a
one-of-a-kind triplex.
In the 1980's Bob Hendrich built-up Hudson and Berkshire locomotives in 3-rail Standard gauge produced from
original Thomas Randall boiler castings (1930's). There also exists a one-of-a-kind Standard gauge scratch built and articulated 2-6-6-0 steam loco
that Bob machined and assembled, residing in the extensive collection of Leonard Carey Williams. The loco measures about 46" long and weighs over 40
pounds.
