An Iron Horse Ramble

CMoore said:

Built in 1945.?
Any guess on how many years it was in use.?
.....................10 maybe.?
GREAT Shot..!!!

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DWThomas said:

Thanks!

There were 30 of this class built, actually an enlargement and enhancement of a previous 2-8-0 series. By the end of the 1950s they were down to 5. I vaguely recall two were in service for a couple of years as stationary boilers to supply steam at a manufacturing plant. (There's more than you wanted to know on Wikipedia.) In 1959 the Reading Railroad kicked off some excursions using these remaining engines. The excursions ran until 1964. These were typically all day affairs sometimes covering 300 or so miles. This latest event has been exciting for me, as I rode a number of those excursions, including some powered by this very locomotive. I also chased some others with camera gear. Toward the older end of my gallery here is a scan of a slide with 2102 and 2100 running double-headed up in the Pennsylvania anthracite region. At least one of those runs with two locos had 22 coaches and 1200 passengers. Some slides from a 1962 "Autumn Leaf Special" are up on PBase -- yes, Kodachrome II in an Argus C-3 -- those were the days!!!

After the original Reading Railroad faded, the four surviving engines wound up scattered but were occasionally used for excursions. I think once they reached a point of needing boiler re-tubing they pretty much wound up as museum pieces. #2102 (above) was run a few times in the 1990s after the RBM&N acquired it, but there was major work needed after that. There are some videos, both via the RBM&N website, and on YouTube showing major reconstruction work.

I have some iPhone videos on my website (unfortunately my first crude attempts to do video editing - Ken Burns I am not ), accessible via a PBase gallery page. There are yet some stills from the aforementioned phone as well as a 2nd roll to finish off and sort through One of These Days(tm)..

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