Reading 2102

By the turn of the 20th century, the Philadelphia and Reading Company had approximately 800 class "I" 2-8-0 "Consolidation" types constructed by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as well as the Reading's own locomotive shops in Reading, since it was introduced for them in 1880.[1] The Vaulcain compound "culm" burners built in the early 1890s were followed by the anthracite coal burners, which the company decided to use anthracite as their steamer's primary fuel source, thus they would be built with wider fireboxes. Those 2-8-0s built in the 20th century included eighty-five I-8a class locomotives built between 1910 and 1914, numbered 1501–1533 and 1566–1617, then eighty I-9a class locomotives in 1918 and 1922, numbered 1625–1637, 1650–1660, 1670–1684 and 1900–1924, and then the I-10sa class locomotives between 1923 and 1925, numbered 2000–2049. In the latter group, a tractive effort of 71,000 pounds is attained, as compared with 19,390 pounds of the 19th century-built 2-8-0s. No. 2102 was numbered 2022 at the time and was among the first I-10sa locomotives built in 1923. The husky consolidations were solely used for heavy freight service on the Reading's Branch lines, and sometimes, on the Main line.

Before World War II came to a close, the Reading was looking for even heavier and more powerful locomotives than their M class 2-8-2 "mikados" or their K class 2-10-2 "Santa Fe" types for the ever so heavier trains, as well as replacing their N class 2-8-8-2 Mallets. However, just as the case with other railroads, the Wartime Production Board denied the company from building a new locomotive design, but allowed them to rebuild or modify their existing locomotives. Thus, between 1945 and 1947, just as the war was over, the Reading brought twenty of their mallets Nos 1811-1830 and thirty of their consolidations Nos 2020–2049, including the 2022, into their locomotive shops in Reading. There, the mallets were converted into simple expansion locomotives, with some turning into 2-8-8-0s, and the 2-8-0s were heavily rebuilt into 4-8-4 "Northerns", and they were reclassified as T-1s and renumbered to 2100–2129. Their four-axle tenders were replaced with larger six-axle tenders, their boilers were extended, their driving wheel diameter was increased, they received two extra pilot wheels, and they received four trailing wheels to support their enlarged fireboxes. The 2022 was renumbered 2102 and it was now ready for mainline freight service a lot more common, just as the rest of its rebuilt sister engines were. As the Reading fully dieselized in 1956, No. 2102 was retired from revenue service, and shortly afterwards, it was sold to Carpenter Steel Corporation for use to provide steam for their plant.[2]

In the fall 1960, the Carpenter Steel plant suffered a catastrophic fire, badly damaging their steam generator. After that, the 2102 was sold back by the Reading Company, who one year prior, decided to spare a few of their T-1s from the scrapper's torch for use on their final excursion fan trips between Wayne Junction in Philadelphia to Shamokin, known as the "Iron Horse Rambles".[3] After its extensive overhaul was completed in 1962, the 2102 would join sister engine 2100 and replace 2124, which was sold to Steamtown, U.S.A. after breaking down, in the rambles, and it would even perform some doubleheaders with the 2100. In 1964, the Rambles were put to an end, and by January 31, 1965, the last remaining T-1s were sold separately, and the 2102 was sold off to Steam Tours Inc.[4] based in Akron, Ohio and lead by Bill Benson. Beginning in 1966, the 2102 would operate in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest areas of the country. In 1968, though, the 2102 ran an excursion on Grand Trunk Western trackage when a minor derailment damaged its hennessey oil lubricators on the second driving axle, and the lubricator was subsequently converted to a grease block. It sat idle for the next three years.

No. 2102 when it masqueraded as Delaware and Hudson No. 302 in 1973

In April 1971, the 2102 was brought back out of storage for use on an inaugural run along the Greenbrier River from Ronceverte to Cass, West Virginia, as a novel way of letting tourists connect to the remote Cass Scenic Railroad.[5] One year later, Ross Rowland's High Iron Company (HICO) sponsored an excursion run to recreate an Iron Horse Ramble from Reading to Harrisburg on Reading trackage, and the 2102 was the locomotive used for the run. Another year later, during the sesquicentennial of the Delaware and Hudson Railway, the 2102 was sent to the D&H's Colonie, New York shops to be masqueraded as D&H K-62 4-8-4 302[6] with elephant-eared smoke deflectors, a recessed headlight, some raised marker lights, and a D&H style number board.[7] In April, the locomotive travelled to Steamtown in Bellows Falls, Vermont to perform a doubleheader with Canadian Pacific 4-6-2 1278, which masqueraded as D&H 653 at the time. For the rest of 1973, the 302 pulled various excursions sponsored by HICO from Hoboken, New Jersey to Binghamton, New York, and excursions sponsored by Steam Tours over Pittsburgh and Shawmut. Yet, another year later, the 2102 was sold again to another Ohio tourist group, the Allegheny Railroad, who gave the 2102 an overhaul that would last until 1977. During that process, the 2102 was reverted to its Reading livery, albeit it was re lettered to "Allegheny".

No. 2102 with 4-6-2 No. 425 and an EMD gp30 for a night photo session at the Reading locomotive shops in 1985

Shortly after the overhaul was completed, the 2102 performed a doubleheader along the famed Horseshoe Curve with Grand Trunk Western 2-8-2 No. 4070.[8][9] However, that trip was plagued with mechanical issues; while on the curve, the 4070 threw an eccentric rod, and the busy line where their train sat had to be shut down for several hours. After that, Conrail banned steam operations for the next several years. Soon, the 2102 was overhauled, yet, again by volunteers at the Monongahela Railway's locomotive shops in Brownsville. In September 1985, under the lease of the Reading Company Technical and Historical Society, the 2102 travelled to the Ex-Reading locomotive shops to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the debut of the Reading T-1 class. Andrew J. Muller, Jr., owner of the Blue Mountain and Reading Regional railroad (BM&R),[10] brought his steam locomotive for the event as well; Ex-Gulf, Mobile and Northern 4-6-2 "pacific" No. 425, which had recently been restored for the BM&R in 1983. During the event, Andy Muller, who had always dreamed of owning a Reading T-1, made the financially distressed owners of the RCT&HS an offer they couldn't refuse, and he purchased the 2102 at an undisclosed cost. Now, the 2102 has operated more mainline excursions on the BM&R, Conrail, the High Iron, and Gettysburg trackage. The locomotive also performed one doubleheader with the 425 in 1988.[11] Between December 1986 and 1987, the 2102's tender was given the bold lettering “We the People of Reading and Berks County PA celebrate Constitution Day” to pay homage to the bicentennial of the United States Constitution.[12] The 2102's last run in the 20th century occurred in August 1991, after pulling a special 12-car train called "The Anthracite Express" to Tamaqua, in celebration of the 160th anniversary of the opening of the Little Schuylkill Navigation Railroad,[13] before the T-1's fire was again dropped, since it was about due for, yet, another overhaul.

On September 25, 1995, the 2102 was moved to Steamtown National Historic Site[14] in Scranton, Pennsylvania, when Muller made a deal to use their facilities in exchange for Steamtown to use his locomotives to run excursions whenever they are operable, and the 2102 was finally moved to the working stall at Steamtown's roundhouse two years later. The locomotive was disassembled beginning in January 1998, with the jacket, shielding, and ornamentation removed from the boiler, and the handles and gauges were removed from the cab. On June 26 of the same year, the 2102 was reassembled and was moved back to the RBM&N's headquarters of Port Clinton, where the railroad's own locomotive shop was under construction. For the next seventeen years, the 2102 would remain in storage out of public view inside the Port Clinton shop, and every once in a while, it would be brought outside for static display in front of the RBM&N station in Temple.[15] In January 2016, the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern started a mechanical evaluation on the locomotive to see if it is restorable, and on January 21, 2016, they announced the locomotive would be returned to service by Mid-2017. Mr. Muller spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to rebuild the locomotive, and more money to rebuild the T-1 solely came from ticket sales, since public donations weren't allowed to be made for the RBM&N's steam program.[16] The inside firebox sheets were replaced, all 724 stay bolts were either replaced or repaired, and all the flues and tubes were taken out to check the hydro pressure. The rear support sheet was also replaced, since it was discovered that it suffered a crack long ago and never got replaced. 2017 has came and went, and the 2102 was never even test fired, yet. In February 2020, the RBM&N's newsletter gave an update on the project, and stated that the 2102 should be fully operational at some point in 2021.[17]

By the end of 2020, the boiler was almost completely refurbished, and on January 10, 2021, the 2102 was fired up for the very first time in almost 30 years at its 240 psi working pressure. All components, including the boiler, injectors, feedwater heater, and stoker tested fine. However, a few leaks were discovered, and they would be repaired after the locomotive cooled down. The 4-8-4 still wasn't quite ready to run yet, as the cab still needs to be reinstalled, and the tender is still being rebuilt, albeit the 2102 was using the 425's tender for the test fire. The multi-year project has cost more than $1 million so far, and Muller says that he expects to spend another $100,000 for completion.[18] The steam crew and management gathered on January 12 for a small ceremony to blow the whistle. It will likely take a few more months for the T-1 to be ready to run again.