Chessie Steamer

Denny,

That is the Chessie Steam Special, which was actually a Reading Railroad 4-8-4 T-1 dressed up in Chessie System colors. The train was inaugurated in 1977 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad.

That engine is still in existence at the Baltimore & Ohio Museum in Maryland.

Mikado 4501 posted:

That engine is still in existence at the Baltimore & Ohio Museum in Maryland.

Unfortunately, the engine was damaged in a 1979 fire and no longer operable.  They did some cosmetic repairs to it and put it back into its 1976-77 American Freedom Train paint scheme.  It is in pretty bad shape.

Here is a video I found:

Sad to hear that Ron. That's a great video Mike.

CAPPilot posted:

Unfortunately, the engine was damaged in a 1979 fire and no longer operable.  They did some cosmetic repairs to it and put it back into its 1976-77 American Freedom Train paint scheme.  It is in pretty bad shape.

Actually Ross Rowland has said a few times in print that he felt that 2101 could have run again. But the B&O museum was willing to give her C&O 614 in exchange for the burn-scarred hulk of 2101, which I suspect he was just fine with.

2101 does have at least one portion of it's rods that are reproduction and incapable to transmitting power to the wheels from the cylinders, from what I've read, as apparently a portion of one of 2101's rods were out of whack. I don't know the specific of that, it's just something I've read.

BTW, 2101's tender is still out there and it ain't in Baltimore. It's connected with RDG 2100 and has been since soon after the fire. Click here for more info.

Here's a shot of 2101 after she was pulled from the rubble:

The latest issue of Trains & Railroads of the Past has a great feature on this great engine.

I rode and and chased the Special with my father when I was in high school.  While I had seen Ross running NKP 759, and later the AFT, as exposure to mainline steam, the Chessie Steam Special gave me a chance to taste it, from the open windows to the photo run bys.  As a junior in high school, I didn't care about the paint and to this day think it's pretty.    When the fire occurred, the museum was still owned and operated by the Chessie System RR.  

Bob 

p51 posted:

CAPPilot posted:

Unfortunately, the engine was damaged in a 1979 fire and no longer operable.  They did some cosmetic repairs to it and put it back into its 1976-77 American Freedom Train paint scheme.  It is in pretty bad shape.

Actually Ross Rowland has said a few times in print that he felt that 2101 could have run again. But the B&O museum was willing to give her C&O 614 in exchange for the burn-scarred hulk of 2101, which I suspect he was just fine with.

2101 does have at least one portion of it's rods that are reproduction and incapable to transmitting power to the wheels from the cylinders, from what I've read, as apparently a portion of one of 2101's rods were out of whack. I don't know the specific of that, it's just something I've read.

BTW, 2101's tender is still out there and it ain't in Baltimore. It's connected with RDG 2100 and has been since soon after the fire. Click here for more info.

Here's a shot of 2101 after she was pulled from the rubble:

I'm about 99% sure that is not true. Last I looked over the 2101, about a year or so ago, all of the rods were steel. I've heard one is a little "bent" (or maybe that is another T1 out there). The museum has moved the 2101 around with the current set of rods on it and it doesn't seem to have caused an issue. 

That is a terrific video..imagine if it had been made with the equipment we have today!

I really like that T1, it seems her fat boiler is just a tad lower, and she's wearing those nice boxbok drivers, has a nifty chuff. Sorry i did not see the engine when she was up this way. But it did cause me to buy tickets for the family and I when 614 made her runs in '81.

I seem to remember back when the fire happened, that it was said the heat had caused some of the parts of the locomotive that were heat treated had caused the metal to be softer than it should be, and I somehow got the impression that the rods were involved.

Ed

I met the engineer who towed 2101 from the burned roundhouse.  He stated that Ross Rowland claimed that the bearings were warped by the fire, but when the engineer towed it, there were fine.  He further stated that Ross wanted 614 because it was more fuel efficient and the tender was an issue.

There can be NO doubt the level of damage to 2101 is unknown to this day and won't be known until it's torn into, if ever.  Further, there is no doubt at the time, Chessie considered it a better option to offer Ross a locomotive from their "collection" than to repair 2101.  Chessie CEO Hays Watkins states this in his book (Just Call Me Hays - a great read, BTW).  Ross is also on public record stating he had his pick and seriously looked at 614 and 490 (the poppet  valve Hudson) but described 490 as likely needing more work.  Both locomotives offered a step above 2101, being roller bearing locomotives; if I were Ross, the direction to go is very clear!  

It certainly would have been interesting if Ross had picked 490 and there would be modern day recordings of a poppet valve locomotive at speed.  Perhaps one day if PRR 5550 ever hits the road...

Bob

If you had an opportunity to trade a home-made 1920s era, plain bearing 2-8-0 (that was rebuilt into a 4-8-4) for a Lima Super Power, all roller bearing 4-8-4 built in 1948, you would make that trade every day of the week.

OGR Webmaster posted:

If you had an opportunity to trade a home-made 1920s era, plain bearing 2-8-0 (that was rebuilt into a 4-8-4) for a Lima Super Power, all roller bearing 4-8-4 built in 1948, you would make that trade every day of the week.

...and twice on Sunday!

I wouldn't sell on those Reading T1s too quickly Rich. They only lasted in service for about 10 years on the Reading and even then they didn't know their full potential as a form of motive power. 

When the 2102 does eventually return to the Reading area on the Reading & Northern: watch out! The 765 might have some competition in the East.