Reading 2101 is a 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive, originally built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works.
History:[]
In March, 1925, the Baldwin Locomotive Works built 2101 as a 2-8-0 type steam locomotive, numbered 2037. During WWII, the United States Railroad Administration, which had control over every Class I railroad in America at the time, would not allow new locomotive designs to be made, due to most of the metal materials going to war. The top speed of a T1 is 70 mph.
At that time, the Reading Company needed a larger locomotive to handle the wartime freight. And since new designs could not be made, the 2-8-0 roster was transformed into a 4-8-4 roster. The new 4-8-4's,class T-1, which were built using the 2-8-0's, were numbered 2100 and upwards. After the Reading Co. retired steam locomotives, a few Reading T-1's were used for the Reading Rambles. 2101, however, was used as a backup locomotive, it was retired from service in 1959. After these excursions ended, the 2100, 2101, 2102,and 2124 were sent to a scrapyard in Baltimore, Maryland in 1967.
Excursion Career:[]
In 1975, Ross E. Rowland, Jr, envisioned a large train to haul American artifacts across the country as part of the 1976 bicentennial of America. That train would be the American Freedom Train . It was found that Southern Pacific No. 4449 was too heavy for most bridges in the east, so diesels were originally slated to run the AFT on the east coast. Ross did not want this, and he eventually found the T1's stored in the scrapyard. Scrap metal was not a big business in the 70's and it also helped the engines' survival that the scrap yard owner was partial to steam engines, so the T-1's sat. He eventually restored 2101, using 2100 as a parts supplier. 2101 was restored in only 35 days, and hauled the AFT in 1975-1976 in the east. In 1976, the B&O's bicentennial was coming up.
Chessie Steam Special (1977)
On one of 2101's final AFT excursion, Hays T. Watkins, CEO of Chessie System in the 1970's, came up to Ross Rowland in Baltimore. He asked to have 2101 leased, and since Ross had no use for 2101 after the AFT, he agreed to have the Chessie System use the locomotive. 2101 was eventually overhauled for the program at the Reading Shops in Reading, Pennsylvania. After overhaul, he was painted in a yellow, orange, and blue scheme, fitted with NKP number boards and a new headlight. The first Chessie Steam Special excursion was ran in 1977 out of Baltimore, Maryland. Two seasons of the CSS, 1977-1978, ran.
A new third season was planned, and 2101 was stored in the Silver Grove Roundhouse in Silver Grove, Kentucky. After storage there, she would be fired up and run a third season of the CSS. However, this did not happen, as the roundhouse 2101 was stored in caught fire in March 1979. The fire was so intense, that the metal on 2101's tender and cab warped along with other minor damage. The damaged portions of the engine were enough that no quick fix could put the engine back in service for the next set of excursions. Also, since the engine had been in a fire, a full rebuild would have been necessary for a new certification on the boiler and all the appliances. Due to time constraints, 2101 was cosmetically restored as AFT 1, and donated to the B&O Railroad Museum in exchange for C&O No. 614. There, 2101 (AFT 1) sits on outdoor static display.
Trivia[]
- 2101 was used in shows such as Shining Time Station, which used footage from "The B&O's 8000-Mille Birthday Party".
- The 2101 was supposed to haul the Chessie Safety Express which was the 3rd season of the Chessie Steam Special. But the fire which destroyed the roundhouse in March 1979, also destroyed 2101's operating career, so C&O No. 614 took over the special.
- 2101 has had three different American Freedom Train paint schemes.
- 2101's Auxiliary water tender, used for her excursion career, was from NYC L-3b class Mohawk #3042.
- The 2101 moved to the B&O's restoration facility on October 21, 2023 for cosmetic restoration.
- On October 21, 2023, during No. 2101's move towards the restoration shops of the B&O Railroad Museum, it had a minor incident with one of the displayed passenger cars near the museum due to low clearance, its left cab wall scraping the corner of the coach. Thankfully, the damage was negligible, as they made contact at slow speed.
Gallery[]
