Reading 2100 to be restored again?

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Also announced on Twitter by @americansteamrr and retweeted by @nickelplate765 (Whoever that is) 

All of this is kind of mind blowing stuff!  I ought to get to know the Cleveland group a bit better.  Not associated with this group is another RR restoration group that owns the former GTW USRA light Mike #4070.  They also have plans to restore this locomotive.  What with the Age of Steam Roundhouse located just south, if just some of this restoration work comes to fruition, Cleveland will become the Mecca of steam in the U.S.A.!  Well, maybe not, considering some of the well funded projects going on in other areas.

 

Paul Fischer

Wow, that is interesting. Not too many(steam excursion) locos left to restore is there? Maybe 614?

 

Who'd ever guess in this digital age/ year 2015, steam restoration/operation would be going so strong?...east of the Mississippi anyway

This is interesting as RickO stated.  I'm glad to hear of this, the 2100 sure deserves better than she has gotten in the recent past. 

My favorite photo so far has been the one I saw of the ditch lights laying in the dirt, permanently removed from the engine.

Where in Cleveland will they do the restoration?

I dunno...  Looks like the whole idea of restoration is kinda up in the air...

 

Rusty

When rail fanning in the Norristown, Pa. area a few years ago I was talking with a guy who mentioned that efforts were underway to get 614 running again out to the Greenbriar Estate, and that passenger cars were being refurbished for it at local SEPTA shops.  But I believe that CSX said 'no way'.

 

Fast forward to a trip to the C&O Railway Heritage Center in Clifton Forge, Va., where the 614 is on display, an employee/volunteer told us that 614 could roll right onto the rails then, but she wasn't going anywhere.

 

But I'd love to see Reading 2100 run again!  Hopefully on Reading RR rails.

Midwest Railway Preservation Society's roundhouse near downtown Cleveland, per the group's Facebook page.

Thanks Blystovski. By chance I know they say they will let us know when the trip is set. But the question I ask is, when might they make this? Also will it be done inside the roundhouse area? I looked on google maps and seen this from Satellite view of what the place looks like. Only question from looking at Satellite and street view, how will they get it onto the turntable into the roundhouse? Also from what I've read about CVL #4070, will take a long time. How long will it take to restore 2100?

 

Is the 2100 still owned by Payne? I don't think there isn't another locomotive with more money spent on it with almost nothing to show for it. Former Lionel owner Richard Kughn and associates reportedly spent 3 mil to restore it and could never find a place to run it, then it was moved to be in some movie project that fell apart and it set for several years. I believe this is when Mr. Paine took it to Canada, did a half a**ed oil conversion, put the red stripe on it and took it to his failed tourist operation in Oregon. So, who owns it now? Would like to see it restored to its Reading glory and run again.

Feel free to correct any errors in facts.  

I believe the initial restoration figure was 1 million. And it was never moved for the movie deal. Was prepped, but never moved. What you may be thinking about was the move to Brewster OH for the W&LE that also fell through.

Is this the T1 with the bent main drive rod?

Yes, bent rod from 2101.

The "main rod" is not the bent one. The best I can recall is the side rod between #1 and #2 driver is the bent one, but I can't remember which side.

Also 2100 and 2101 swapped tenders after the fire.

HW - I've heard this as well.  How badly is it bent?  The big question - is it fixable?  Can you straighten a forged rod and have it retain its mechanical properties?  Or is this a situation where you just have a new one manufactured?

 

Thanks!

The current edition of The Railroad Press has a feature on the "Reading Rambles" from back in the day. The 2100 is pictured a few times. For Reading steam fans, it's worth the purchase price of the issue.

 

TRP is a quality publication featuring excellent photographs accompanied by brief but informative text printed on heavy paper...it's more a softcover book than a magazine. 

 

Bob

 

Recently an antique dealer gave me a small metal casting of a 2100 that looks like it came off a desk set or something. Has some relevancy now.

Jim:

 

Is this your item?

 

Bob 

 

Yes !! No wooden base though. What was it for ??

On Sun, Apr 19, 2015 at 9:01 PM, O Gauge Railroading On Line Forum <
alerts@hoop.la> wrote:

At 9:01 alerts@ hoop>la: wrote WHAT??????????

 

Seems like you switched us on a track to nowhere.

This is wonderful news. And, to see the short video clip of it being moved on the flat beds makes it all the better!

 

Hot Water,

You are a individual very much in the know with surviving steam locomotives. I am always amazed and appreciative of your input.

1. To your knowledge, was the 2100's stoker and equipment recovered as well? I believe it was mentioned in another thread to have still been in Canada where it was removed.

2. Do you think the group will try to find a replacement booster engine for the trailing truck? I think the same thread stated that 2100's was removed for use on C&O 614? Would this be important, or useful, to her operation when completed?

3. Lastly, I believe that the same thread previously posted here on the forum mentioned that at some point the tenders had been switched back to the appropriate locomotives. Would that be correct?

 

I hope to be able to ride behind this locomotive one day. Just knowing that it is being moved with the intention of restoration gives me hope that it may happen!

 

B&O946,

Thanks for posting this!

 

 

Truly awesome!! I am very fond of the Reading T-1 4-8-4 2100 series.

To hear that it may become a reality to see, smell, hear 2100 operating once again is very exciting!

I watched 2100 & 2124 double headed around Horseshoe curve. A saw 2100 when it came to Wayne Junction station in Phila. I saw it on the American Freedom train. Went to the yards when it arrived in Phila.

To think I would be able to see it operating once again will be a tremendous experience!!   

 

So whats the story behind the bent main drive rod anyway? How did it get "bent"?

Curious to know if they'll convert her back to coal.  I know Rich's view on coal vs. oil.  What is the supply of Anthracite like anyway?

 

Jon

The bent rod actually happened on Ross Rowland's T-1 #2101, during a derailment in either Detroit or Cleveland, during the Chessie Steam Special trips, many years ago. The replacement good rod came from the 2100, and the bent rod was installed on 2100, since it of course wasn't going anywhere anyway, at that time. Fast forward to the 2100 being moved up to London, Ont. (Canada), and the Tom Payne fiasco conversion to oil burning and subsequent move to Tacoma, Wash. The 2100 kept having an overheated rod bearing, and all Tom Payne ever did was pour oil on it to cool it down, but the rod was still bent.

 

Today, the "bent rod" will not really become an issue, as a good replacement can just be removed from the 2101 (now AFT #1) at the Baltimore Museum.

Interesting question. However, the Reading T-1 locomotives did NOT burn Anthracite coal anyway. Well into the 1930s, the various railroads in the Anthracite Region, realized that larger locomotives simply could NOT burn straight Anthracite Coal. The various railroads came up with "mixing procedures" for mixing fairly large quantities of Bituminous Coal in with the Anthracite, for mixes of high Bituminous (60 to 70%) with low quantities of Anthracite "fines".  Thus, the famous Reading T-1 4-8-4s really did NOT use Anthracite Coal.

You saw 2101. I hope someday that Ross Rowland writes a book on the Freedom Train, there are so many stories about how that came to be that even many train fans don't know.

Imagine seeing 2101 at the Striegel Equipment Company scrap yard in Baltimore (actually, Curtis Bay), Maryland:

 

They called it, 'The 30 day miracle' to have gotten it from that, to this:

And she ran pretty well for the Freedom Train, from what I've read.

And then, a few short years later, to revert to the following conditions:

So very, very sad...

Check this out.....


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI3VXG_s9z8

Check the website now - it has been updated today (4/20/15) as promised :http://www.fireup2100.org/news/

re: Reading 2100 promo video, was this produced by 765 Fireman Kelly Lynch, it looks/sounds like his excellent work.

firefighter25dfd,

Thanks for the link!  I got the same kind of goose-bumps that "Listen for the Whistle" gave me!

When I get home, I look forward to donating to the cause!