The Army-Navy game was a very important day for the Pennsylvania Railroad. It was a day for the railroad to go all-out. Game-day specials started in 1936 and carried through all the way to 1975, except for the years of 1942-44 when the game was played elsewhere.

The operation saw almost an entire year of planning. Locomotives, passenger cars, and dining cars were cleaned and scrubbed, and staff specially trained to ensure the day went smoothly.

In peak years, as many as 42 trains, always with GG1 locomotives, would travel to Philadelphia from New York and Washington D.C., heading down the 25th St. viaduct just south of 30th St. Station. The trains would arrive at Greenwich Yard and deliver the crowd only a few hundred feet from the entrance to Municipal/JFK Stadium.

Since Greenwich Yard wasn't electrified in many sections, trains would coast past the AC Motor Stop sign into position. During the game, diesel switcher locomotives would be used to decouple the GG1s from the trains and bring them around to the other end for the trip home.

The game-day specials ended in 1975, the final year of operations before the Penn-Central declared bankruptcy.