Reading No. 1251 is a Class B-4a 0-6-0T (Tank) locomotive built at the Reading, PA, shops of the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad in 1918 from parts of a class I-2a Consolidation (2-8-0). It was the sole saddle tank locomotive rostered by the Reading after WWI.
1251 was assigned as a yard goat/switcher for the Reading Railroad. This job is typical of small yard switchers used across North America, although most had tenders.
It had a long life working at the railroad's shops in Reading, PA, and continued to do so until it was finally retired in 1963. By then, No. 1251 was then the only steam engine still in use on a US Class I railroad. No. 1251 was bought by George Hart/Rail Tours in 1964 and operated on the Maryland and Pennsylvania heritage railroad line in York, PA. It was paired with a former Reading tender for water supply and remained in service until 1966.
It was moved to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in 1968, and was finally purchased outright in 1972. It was cosmetically restored exactly a decade later and at the same time (or later still) was moved indoors.
Today the locomotive is still a public display at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania, and is one of the first exhibits you will see once entering - not counting of course the various engines, rolling stock and other railroad-related equipment on display in the Train Yard.
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