Reading 2101 is a preserved

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

class " T-1"

4-8-4 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles and four trailing wheels on two axles. The type w ...

Northern Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

" type

steam locomotive A steam locomotive is a locomotive that provides the force to move itself and other vehicles by means of the expansion of steam. It is fuelled by burning combustible material (usually coal, oil or, rarely, wood) to heat water in the locomot ...

constructed in 1945 for use by the

Reading Company The Reading Company ( ) was a Philadelphia-headquartered railroad that provided passenger and commercial rail transport in eastern Pennsylvania and neighboring states that operated from 1924 until its 1976 acquisition by Conrail. Commonly called ...

. Constructed from an earlier "I10SA"

2-8-0 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of two leading wheels on one axle, usually in a leading truck, eight powered and coupled driving wheels on four axles, and no trailing wheels. ...

" Consolidation"-type locomotive built in 1923, the 2101 handled heavy coal train traffic for the Reading until being retired from revenue service in 1959. Withheld from scrapping, the 2101 served as emergency backup power for the three other T1 locomotives serving the Reading's "Iron Horse Rambler" excursions until being sold for scrap in 1964. In 1975, the locomotive was restored to operation from scrapyard condition in an emergency 30-day overhaul after being selected to pull the first eastern portion of the

American Freedom Train Two national Freedom Trains have toured the United States: the 1947–49 special exhibit Freedom Train and the 1975–76 American Freedom Train which celebrated the United States Bicentennial. Each train had its own special red, white and blue p ...

. On March 6, 1979, while being stored one winter in a

Chessie System Chessie System, Inc. was a holding company that owned the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O), the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), the Western Maryland Railway (WM), and Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad (B&OCT). Trains operated und ...

roundhouse in Silver Grove, KY, 2101 was severely damaged in a fire. Also damaged in that fire was a NYC Mohawk tender, which is now located at the National New York Central Railroad Museum in

Elkhart, Indiana Elkhart ( ) is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The city is located east of South Bend, Indiana, east of Chicago, Illinois, and north of Indianapolis, Indiana. Elkhart has the larger population of the two principal cities of th ...

. 2101 was cosmetically restored and placed in the

B&O Railroad Museum The B&O Railroad Museum is a museum and historic railway station exhibiting historic railroad equipment in Baltimore, Maryland. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O) company originally opened the museum on July 4, 1953, with the name of the Balti ...

on Labor Day, 1979, in exchange for

Chesapeake and Ohio 614 Chesapeake & Ohio 614 is a class "J-3-A" 4-8-4 " Greenbrier" (Northern) type steam locomotive built in June 1948 by the Lima Locomotive Works in Lima, Ohio for the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway (C&O) as a member of the J-3-A class. As one of th ...

. Today the locomotive remains on display in its American Freedom Train #1 paint scheme.

History

Revenue service

Reading No. 2101 is a class " T-1"

" type

that was one of 30 4-8-4s that were converted from 30 class "I-10sa"

" Consolidation" type locomotives from 1945 through 1947 by the Reading Railroad when management wanted faster and more powerful locomotives, but had no spare cash to order completely new ones. Starting in 1945 the Reading took 30 of its 2-8-0s and converted them with a little help from

Baldwin Locomotive Works The Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) was an American manufacturer of railroad locomotives from 1825 to 1951. Originally located in Philadelphia, it moved to nearby Eddystone, Pennsylvania, in the early 20th century. The company was for decades t ...

into 30 new 4-8-4 locomotives that were numbered 2100-2129 and classified as class "T1". No. 2101 was originally built by Baldwin in 1923 as I-10a 2-8-0 No. 2037 and was converted to Reading No. 2101 in 1945. For its entire service life, No. 2101 pulled many freight and passenger trains from 1945 to 1956 when nearly all steam on the Reading was sent to

scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...

, except for five T1s:

2100 In contemporary history, the third millennium of the anno Domini or Common Era in the Gregorian calendar is the current millennium spanning the years 2001 to 3000 ( 21st to 30th centuries). Ongoing futures studies seek to understand what is l ...

, 2101, 2102, 2123 and 2124. No. 2101 was cared for in the Reading's Roundhouse from 1959 to 1964 as a standby locomotive for the famous "Iron Horse Rambles". October 17, 1964, saw the 50th and last Ramble excursion when rising operational costs and deteriorating track forced the end of these special fan trips. Afterwards, No. 2101 was sold along with No. 2100 in September 1967 to Streigel Equipment and Supply of

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

, where it would be stored for the next eight years.

Excursion service

In 1975, the country was gearing up for America's Bicentennial and plans were underway for The

which would travel across the country stopping in dozens of cities and pulled by steam locomotives. Led by

Ross Rowland Ross E. Rowland, Jr. (born 1940) is a figure in United States railroad historic preservation, preservation. He has run public and demonstration excursions on existing railroads utilizing steam locomotives. Steam Excursion Career Ross Rowland b ...

, a nationwide search was carried out to search for locomotives in restorable condition to pull the train.

Southern Pacific 4449 Southern Pacific 4449, also known as the Daylight, is the only surviving example of Southern Pacific Railroad's " GS-4" class of 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotives and one of only two GS-class locomotives surviving, the other being " GS-6 ...

and Reading No. 2101 were selected for the trip (A group of dedicated preservationists in Ft. Worth also rebuilt a steam locomotive that would pull the train in Texas,

Texas and Pacific 610 Texas and Pacific 610 is a class "I-1a" 2-10-4 "Texas" type steam locomotive that was originally operated by the Texas and Pacific Railway (T&P). It served the T&P from 1927 to 1951 before being donated to the city of Fort Worth. It was briefly ...

). No. 2101 was pulled from the scrapyard and restored to operating condition on March 28, 1975 in only 30 days in the same building where she was constructed from a 2-8-0 nearly 30 years earlier—and painted as "American Freedom Train #1". Plymouth, MI C&O Jul 1977 10-34

No. 2101 pulled the eastern section of the trip before giving it to the SP 4449 in Chicago for the western section. On the return trip east, No. 2101 again took charge of the train at Birmingham, AL and pulled the train through much of New England, handing the train back to the SP 4449 at the Pentagon. Less than two years later, No. 2101 was repainted into a bright yellow and orange livery and pulled many excursions arranged by Ross Rowland on the

as the "Chessie Steam Special" to celebrate the 150th birthday of the

Baltimore and Ohio Railroad The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad was the first common carrier railroad and the oldest railroad in the United States, with its first section opening in 1830. Merchants from Baltimore, which had benefited to some extent from the construction of ...

before becoming victim to a 1979 roundhouse fire in

Russell Russell may refer to: People * Russell (given name) * Russell (surname) * Lady Russell (disambiguation) * Lord Russell (disambiguation) Places Australia *Russell, Australian Capital Territory *Russell Island, Queensland (disambiguation) **Ru ...

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. While most damage was cosmetic, it was damaged to such an extent that she would need a complete overhaul to be in service after the fire.

Disposition

After the fire incident, it was then decided that No. 2101 would be retired once again and would be traded to the

for Chesapeake & Ohio 614 where it would haul the 1981 Chessie Safety Express from Baltimore to Hagerstown and return. Since then she has been cosmetically restored as "American Freedom Train #1" and is on static display. Upon restoration after the fire, her tender was swapped for the tender belonging to No. 2100. When locomotive No. 2100 was restored, the No. 2101 tender was also restored and converted to oil. The 2100 loco and No. 2101 tender were stored together in Richland, Washington until April 2015 when they were shipped to

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

for restoration to operating condition, and will be converted back to burn coal once again. As of 2022, No. 2101 still remains on static display at the museum.

Accidents and incidents

* In July 1948, the 2101 suffered a catastrophic derailment, supposedly while pulling a freight train. The specific location is unknown, and it is unknown if the

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

, fireman, or leading brakeman were injured or killed. * In March 1979, a roundhouse at Stevens Yard in Silver Grove, Kentucky caught

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

with the 2101 inside, causing the locomotive to be damaged. The status of mechanical soundness was unknown due to the fire and it was traded to the

in exchange for Chesapeake and Ohio

614 __NOTOC__ Year 614 ( DCXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. The denomination 614 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era ...

, and it was cosmetically restored back to its American Freedom Train livery.

References

* * *

External links

* {{Commons category-inline, Reading Company 2101
Reading 2101 and the 1975-1976 Bicentennial American Freedom Train
Individual locomotives of the United States 4-8-4 locomotives Baldwin locomotives Philadelphia and Reading Railroad locomotives Freight locomotives 2101 Standard gauge locomotives of the United States Preserved steam locomotives of Maryland Railway locomotives introduced in 1925