When Revelle W. Brown became president of the Reading Company he wanted to
speed up freight service. To that end he ordered the company's
superintendent of motive power and rolling equipment, E. Paul Gangewere, to
get together with the design engineers at the Baldwin Locomotive Works to
develop a plan to convert 30 of the railroad's I-10a 2-8-0 Consolidations to
new 4-8-4 Northerns.
These 30 steam locomotives (road numbers 2100 -2129) were rebuilt in the railroad's own shops in Reading, PA, beginning in 1945 with the project completed by 1947. The conversions were made with several reclaimed parts from the I-10a Consolidations (road numbers 2020-2049) and new parts furnished from Baldwin and other vendors.
The first 20 locomotives converted were put into freight service and were regularly used for coal traffic. The last 10 were equipped for passenger service but, except for a few troop trains, were also used for freight.
The Reading Class T-1's were handsome heavy-duty locomotives which saw steady work until diesels took over freight service in the early 1950's. As they were taken out of service, the T-1's were kept in top-notch shape inside the Reading Roundhouse.
By 1956, steam was dead and all steam locomotives but the T-1's were gone from the Reading. Three years later the T-1's would begin a new and more celebrated career pulling train loads of railfans on excursions through the Pennsylvania country side. These outings became known as "Reading Rambles".
Of the 30 T-1's built by the Reading only four survive today and are located as shown below.
On the Reading Railroad these excursions which became known as "Reading
Rambles" were started in 1936, when the first was run in October and was
billed as an "Autumn leaf excursion". This very popular ramble ran
every year until the outbreak of World War II. After the war only a few
rambles were run and, when diesels took over completely in the mid
1950's, they were thought to have become a part of the romantic history
of railroading.
Then surprisingly in 1959, the Reading announced an "Iron Horse Ramble" to be led by a steam locomotive, one of the T-1s, #2124. This nostalgic revival of the rambles was run on October 25, 1959, with #2124 pulling a 16 car train from Wayne Junction to Shamokin. The Reading continued to run the rambles using T-1 #2100, #2102 and #2124 until high locomotive repair costs and track deterioration caused the cessation of these very popular outings. From the October 25, 1959 ramble to the last one on October 17, 1964, the Reading had operated a total of 50 "Rambles".
His plan was to have the train travel from city to city and to be pulled by restored steam locomotives. For the southern and western portions of the tour he was able to secure the services of restored Southern Pacific #4449 and the restored Texas & Pacific #610.
For the east, Rowland found a Reading T-1, #2101, in a scrap yard in
Baltimore, MD and overhauled it in the same Reading shop were it had been
converted nearly 30 years earlier.
After the American Freedom Train, Rowland kept #2101 and conducted a series of excursions on the Chessie System until #2101 was severely damaged in a round house fire in 1979. After the fire the Chessie wanted the steam train excursions to continue and traded Rowland a C&O main line steam locomotive (#614) for the damaged #2101. The Chessie System cosmetically restored #2101 as "American Freedom Train #1" and put it on static display at the B&O museum where it still remains today.
For some time, 2100, which was owned by a private group, had
been stored by the Ohio Central Railroad. It once steamed on test runs conducted
during the last week of May, 1998, on the tracks of the Ohio Central.
In January, 1998, it was sold at an auction to Tom Payne, a private owner from Alberta, Canada. Tom planned on having 2100 spend a few months during the summer of 1998, at the former Michigan Central Railroad Shops which are now part of the Elgin County Railway Museum in St. Thomas to have it converted to burn oil. He has also bought an auxiliary tender and owns twelve stainless steel first class cars and planned to offer excursion trips through the Canadian Rockies. However, after successfully converting number 2100 to an oil-burning locomotive, Tom Payne determined that there was no suitable location to operate the locomotive out of St. Thomas, Ontario.
In 2005, the 2100 was sold to the Golden Pacific Railroad in Tacoma, WA.
2101 is probably best known for its part in the American Freedom Train of 1975-1977 after being
rescued from a junk yard in Baltimore. During this time it was also used to
power the Chessie Steam Special, honoring the 150th anniversary of B&O. It was
painted in Chessie System colors, and pulled 18-20 cars. Unfortunately, 2101 is
also known for being in the Chessie System roundhouse that burned in 1979. It
has been cosmetically restored and is currently on display at the Baltimore
& Ohio Railroad Museum in Baltimore, MD.
2102 is best known for its operation on the Blue
Mountain & Reading in Hamburg, PA where it was used from 1985 until
the early 1990's. In 1995 it was brought to Steamtown National Historical Site to be
repaired in exchange for running some excursions. In 1997 work was begun to
repair 2102 but in mid 1998 it was suddenly towed to the RBM&N headquarters
in Port Clinton, PA where it will be put on display. RBM&N plans to run
2102 on excursions as soon as possible.
2124 was the first T-1 used on the Iron Horse Rambles and is the
only surviving T-1 that hasn't operated since the Reading Rambles in 1964
being replaced by 2101. From 1963 and on, it has been located at Steamtown National Historic Site. There is
an organization called Restore
2124 which is attempting to create interest in restoring 2124 to
operational condition.
| Wheel Arrangement | 4-8-4 |
| Length | 110'-6" |
| Drivers | 70" |
| Weight | 278,200 lbs over drivers 441,300 lbs total locomotive only 809,000 lbs total locomotive with fully loaded tender |
| Grate Area | 94.5 sq ft |
| Cylinders | 2 @ 27 in. dia. and 32 in. stroke |
| Cylinder HP | 3147 HP |
| Boiler Pressure | 240 psi max. |
| Traction Effort | 68,000 lbs and 79,100 lbs with booster |
| Tender Capacity | 19,000 gals of water and 26 tons of coal |
The Reading Railroad used Wootten fireboxes on most of its steam locomotives from 1880, right up to dieselization. The I-10a locomotives, built in 1923-1925, and later converted to T-1s, had a firebox with over 90 square feet, which was about double that of a comparable soft coal burning locomotive at that time. The T-1 had a grate area of 94.5 square feet.
Over time, a mixture of hard and soft coal was used on the Reading Railroad and in the 1940's it changed to 100% soft coal. The Wootten fireboxes were modified to burn stoker-fed bituminous coal. The Wootten firebox proved a natural for getting the huge heating surface that was required in the larger locomotives that were used in the later days of the steam era.
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