4-8-4 "Northern" Steam Locomotives in the USA
Philadelphia & Reading
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 virtually all steam locomotives but the T-1's were gone from the Reading. The only exceptions to this were 10 G3 Pacifics which remained in storage until mid-1957 when they were scrapped and a single 0-6-0 (Reading number 1251) which was still used as a switcher at the Reading shops and is now preserved at the Strasburg Railroad.. 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.
The Iron Horse Rambles (Reading Rambles)
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| Reading 2102 on a Ramble |
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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".
An interesting note is that on that 50th and final "Ramble", the T1 broke
a tender or engine spring. It was later replaced with one from the 2123
which had recently been sold for scrap but was still intack. There was
a TRAINS photo showing the 2123 being scrapped.
The American Freedom Train
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| American Freedom Train |
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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, Ross 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, Ross Rowland
kept #2101 and conducted a series of "Chessie Steam Special" excursions on
the Chessie System in 1977 and 1978 until #2101 was severely damaged in a
roundhouse fire in 1979. The fire was so severe that the coal in 2101's
tender burned. As a result there was some uncertainty in the structural
integrity of the locomotive and tender. After the fire the Chessie,
who had been pleased with the "Chessie Steam Special" program, wanted the
steam train excursions to continue and traded to Ross Rowland a C&O
main line steam locomotive (#614) for the damaged #2101. They also
contributed $100,000 to the restoration efforts of #614. In return Ross
Rowland (Steam Loco. Corp of Americs) would cosmetically restore #2101 to
its "American Freedom Train #1" appearance and donate it to the B&O
museum where it still remains today.
About That Wootten Firebox
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.
Class Details by Steve Llanso of Sweat House Media
Class T-1 (Locobase 275)
Data from "Reading T-1 Locomotive", Railway Age, Volume 120, No 4 (April 1946), pp.189-192; table and diagram in 1947 Locomotive Cyclopedia and "What the Reading Saved,", Steam Locomotive Number 2 (December 1959), pp.8-14. See also "Reading Company No. 2124", Steamtown Special History Study - American Steam Locomotives, National Park Service website at [], last accessed 14 April 2017. (Thanks to John Bohon for his 3 October 2011 email reporting the use of friction bearings and information on tender bearings in the first T-1.) Many thanks to Ellis Tammeleo's group for creating the "October 2022" Google doc with a series of corrections and questions about Locobase's information, including this entry.)
Trailing-truck booster added 11,100 lb (5,035 kg) to starting tractive effort. These engines were built using the boilers from 30 I-10 2-8-0s. The back end was unchanged, the front lengthened primarily by installing a Baldwin-built smokebox section that was 111" (2,819 mm) long and two boiler courses each extending to 187" (4.75 m). Firebox heating surface area included 121 sq ft (11.24 sq m) in four syphons (3 in the firebox, 1 in the combustion chamber) and 17 sq ft (1.58 sq m) in arch tubes.
General Steel Casting supplied the new one-piece engine bed with integral cylinders and pump bracket; as delivered, the unit weighed 60,000 lb (27,216 kg) . Other special equipment were the Worthington 5 1/2 SA feed water heater and Standard HT stoker.
According to John Bohon, the first engine used friction bearings on the drivers. The other ten used roller bearings. Lead and trailing trucks used roller bearings of either SKF or Timken manufacture. Bohon comments that there was no pattern as to what tenders used which bearings.
The writer of What the Reading Saved noted that the only existing components to be reused were "the major part of the boiler and small items like whistles, water gauges, headlights, air pumps, safety valves, and grate rigging ...The last 15 engines built even had new fireboxes." Yet the final cost to the Reading came to $157,000 "or more than $75,000 under the estimated cost of a completely new locomotive."
Bohon adds: "the original use of all the T-1's was in fast freight service. Like most railroads the Reading needed engines to speed up their trains. It was not until later when the diesels started to arrive in mass that the T-1 was bumped down to coal train service. In spite of the compromises in their construction these were good locomotives."
| Principal Dimensions by Steve Llanso of Middle Run Media | |
|---|---|
| Class | T-1 |
| Locobase ID | 275 |
| Railroad | Philadelphia & Reading |
| Country | USA |
| Whyte | 4-8-4 |
| Number in Class | 30 |
| Road Numbers | 2100-2129 |
| Gauge | Std |
| Number Built | 30 |
| Builder | Reading |
| Year | 1945 |
| Valve Gear | Walschaert |
| Locomotive Length and Weight | |
| Driver Wheelbase (ft / m) | 19.25 / 5.87 |
| Engine Wheelbase (ft / m) | 45.83 / 13.97 |
| Ratio of driving wheelbase to overall engine wheelbase | 0.42 |
| Overall Wheelbase (engine & tender) (ft / m) | 96.37 / 29.37 |
| Axle Loading (Maximum Weight per Axle) (lbs / kg) | 69,740 / 31,634 |
| Weight on Drivers (lbs / kg) | 278,200 / 126,190 |
| Engine Weight (lbs / kg) | 441,300 / 200,171 |
| Tender Loaded Weight (lbs / kg) | 367,700 / 166,786 |
| Total Engine and Tender Weight (lbs / kg) | 809,000 / 366,957 |
| Tender Water Capacity (gals / ML) | 19,000 / 71.97 |
| Tender Fuel Capacity (oil/coal) (gals/tons / Liters/MT) | 26 / 23.60 |
| Minimum weight of rail (calculated) (lb/yd / kg/m) | 116 / 58 |
| Geometry Relating to Tractive Effort | |
| Driver Diameter (in / mm) | 70 / 1778 |
| Boiler Pressure (psi / kPa) | 240 / 1650 |
| High Pressure Cylinders (dia x stroke) (in / mm) | 27" x 32" / 686x813 |
| Tractive Effort (lbs / kg) | 67,984 / 30837.06 |
| Booster (lbs) | 10,100 |
| Factor of Adhesion (Weight on Drivers/Tractive Effort) | 4.09 |
| Heating Ability | |
| Tubes (number - dia) (in / mm) | 291 - 2" / 51 |
| Flues (number - dia) (in / mm) | 50 - 5.375" / 137 |
| Flue/Tube length (ft / m) | 20 / 6.10 |
| Firebox Area (sq ft / m2) | 465 / 43.20 |
| Grate Area (sq ft / m2) | 94.40 / 8.77 |
| Evaporative Heating Surface (sq ft / m2) | 4920 / 457.08 |
| Superheating Surface (sq ft / m2) | 1214 / 112.78 |
| Combined Heating Surface (sq ft / m2) | 6134 / 569.86 |
| Evaporative Heating Surface/Cylinder Volume | 231.97 |
| Computations Relating to Power Output (More Information) | |
| Robert LeMassena's Power Computation | 22,656 |
| Same as above plus superheater percentage | 27,187 |
| Same as above but substitute firebox area for grate area | 133,920 |
| Power L1 | 23,988 |
| Power MT | 760.38 |
Photos
Surviving T-1s
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| Reading 2100 in Ontario |
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2100: B&O Roundhouse, Cleveland, OH
A Brief History of 2100
- Originally built in 1923, by Baldwin as an I-10a 2-8-0 road #2045
- Converted to T-1 Class in 9/6/45 by the Reading Railroad
- Was used on the Reading Rambles from 1959 through 1964
- Sold (with two other T-1s 2101 and 2102 along with an 0-6-0 1251) to Striegel Supply & Equipment (scrap yard) in Baltimore, MD in 1965 (another source says 1967) (1251 is now at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania). Photos of 2100 at Striegel Supply.
- Bought by Ross E. Rowland Jr in 1975 (used for parts for 2101 rebuild)
- 1975 - 1987: stored in Hagerstown, MD
- In 1987 2100 was sold to the "2100 Corporation". The group was led by Richard Kughn and included Ross Rowland and Bill Benson.
- Overhauled in 1988 at Hagerstown, MD (by Richard Kughn at a cost of over $1,000,000) with plans to run it. However, no railroad was found that would agree to accommodate a locomotive that large.
- It was broken in on the Winchester & Western after rebuilding and then stored until it was towed (under steam; without main rods) to the Wheeling and Lake Erie Rook Yard in Pittsburgh. Rods were installed and it ran to the W&LE shops in Brewster, OH.
- Stored at the W&LE shops in Brewster, OH until 198?
- The Kughn group donated 2100 to the Portage Ohio Regional Transportation Authority (PORTA) which had plans to operate it on its lines. These plans did not work out and PORTA placed 2100 up for sale.
- Stored by PORTA at the Ohio Central Railroad shop in Coshocton until 1998
- Sold at auction on 1/16/98 to Tom Payne (RailLink Ltd, of Edmonton, Alberta).
- On the last week of May, 1998, 2100 was steamed on test runs conducted at the Ohio Central Railroad.
- Tom Payne planned to have 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. Tom also bought an auxiliary tender and owned 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.
- June, 2005 2100 was sold to the Golden Pacific Railroad in Tacoma, WA.
- 2100 moved to WHECO siding, Richland, WA
- April, 2015: 2100 moved to Clark Ave Roundhouse, Cleveland, OH for restoration by the American Steam Railroad Preservation Association.
Photos and Information
- 2100 (1967: In Striegel Supply & Equipment, Baltimore, MD)
- 2100 (Aug 26, 2000, St. Thomas, Ontario)
- 2100 (Aug 26, 2000, St. Thomas, Ontario)
- 2100 (Aug 26, 2000, St. Thomas, Ontario)
- 2100 (displayed with 5700 in St. Thomas, Ontario)
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| B&O Railroad Museum |
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2101: B&O Railroad Museum, Baltimore, MD
A Brief History of 2101
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.- Originally built in 1925, by Baldwin as an I-10a 2-8-0 road #2037
- Converted to T-1 Class in 1945, by the Reading Railroad
- 1959 - 1964: Remained on standby during the Rambles, but was never used.
- Sold to Striegel Supply & Equipment (scrap yard) in Baltimore, MD in 1965 (another source says 1967).
- Rescued by Ross Rowland and restored at Chessie's (B&O) Riverside engine terminal in 1974
- Used on the "American Freedom Train" in 1975 and 1976 sharing duties with SP 4449 in 1976.
- Led steam train excursions on the Chessie System from 1977 to 1979
- Severely damaged in a roundhouse fire in 1979 after which the damaged tender was swapped with that of the 2100
- Cosmetically restored as American Freedom Train #1
- On static display at B&O Museum in Baltimore
Photos and Information
- 2101 (American Freedom Train)
- 2101 (Aug, 1976: American Freedom Train)
- 2101 (Chessie Steam Special)
- 2101 (at B&O Museum, American Freedom Train)
- 2101 (B&O Museum photo courtesy Pat Fahey)
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| Reading 2102 Under Steam in 1985 |
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2102: Reading Blue Mountain & Northern, Port Clinton, PA
2102 is perhaps 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 had begun to repair 2102 but in mid 1998 it was suddenly towed to the RBM&N headquarters in Port Clinton, PA where it was put on display. RBM&N had plans to run 2102 on excursions.A Brief History of 2102
- Originally built in 1925, by Baldwin as an I-10a 2-8-0 road #2044.
- Converted to T-1 Class in 1945 by the Reading Railroad.
- Was used on the Reading Rambles from 1960 through 1964.
- Sold to Bill Benson's Steam Tours Inc of Akron, OH in 1966.
- Ran excursions on the Western Maryland and the B & O in 1972.
- Ran an excursion to Transpo '72 (unsure of this fact)
- Numbered 302 as the motive power for the Delaware & Hudson's Sesquicentennial in 1973.
- Ran two series of trips on the Pittsburgh & Shawmut (one from Kittaning PA, the other from Brookville PA) still wearing D&H 302 elephant ears.
- Sold to Ohio tour group, Allegheny Railroad in 1974.
- Ran excursions in Ohio and western PA in 1977.
- Steam Tours operated many excursions until 2102 was forced into retirement in Brownsville, PA in 1977.
- Overhaul begun in 1977, by a group of volunteers at Monongahela Railway Shops in Brownsville, PA.
- Tom Jones of Stow, OH with Bob Weightman and Bill Stouffer formed Rails Diversified of Ohio Inc. (RDI) and took over ownership of 2102 in 1980.
- Appeared in the film "Maria's Lover" which was filmed in 1983.
- RDI and 2102 ran three Akron, OH to Pittsburgh, PA excursions in September and October of 1984.
- Steamed from Brownsville, PA to the Reading Shops in August of 1985.
- Ran excursions sponsored by the Reading Co, Technical & Historical Society to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the T-1s.
- Sold to Andrew Muller (Blue Mountain and Reading Railroad) in 1985.
- Ran excursions on the BM&R tourist line from 1985 until the early 1990's.
- Moved to Steamtown NHS in 1995
- Moved in 1998 to be displayed at RBM&N's new steam locomotive shops in Port Clinton, PA with plans to rebuild it as soon as the shops are complete. RBM&N plans to run 2102 and 425 on excursions as soon as possible.
- More history on the 2102
Photos and Information
- 2102 (2024 Reading Outer Station photo courtesy Pat Fahey)
- 2102 (2024 Reading Outer Station photo courtesy Pat Fahey)
- 2102 Ramble
- 2102 (1973: Painted and operating as Delaware & Hudson 302)
- 2102 (1985: Under steam)
- 2102 (8/20/1989 photo by Charles Maxim)
- 2102 (At Horseshoe Curve. Photo by Carl Weber)
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| Reading 2124 in Steamtown |
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2124: Steamtown National Historic Site, Scranton, PA
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.A Brief History of 2124
- Originally built in 1924, by Baldwin as an I-10a 2-8-0 road #2024
- Converted to T-1 Class in 1947, by the Reading Railroad
- Appeared in the opening scene of the film "From the Terrace" with Joanne Woodward. This portion of the 20th Century Fox film was shot in the Jersey City Terminal on December 2, 1959, less than a month after the first three Iron Horse Rambles.
- Was featured in a double page advertisement in national magazines and in a two full page color spread in a Life article.
- Was first locomotive used on the Reading Rambles from 1959 through 1961
- Pulled its last Reading Ramble on October 22, 1961
- Retired and sold to "Steamtown" on July, 1963
- Declared to be restorable but only cosmetically restored in 1997
- On static display at Steamtown NHS
Photos and Information
- 2124 (Steamtown USA photo courtesy Pat Fahey)
- 2124 (1995 Steamtown NHS, Scranton, PA photo courtesy Pat Fahey)
- 2124 (On display at Steamtown NHS)
