Reading 2101

Reading 2101
Type and origin Power type Steam Builder Baldwin Locomotive Works Build date 1923 Rebuilder Reading Company Rebuild date September 1945
Specifications Configuration: ​  • Whyte New: 2-8-0, Rebuilt: 4-8-4 Gauge 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) Driver dia. 70 in (1,778 mm) Length 110 ft 6 in (33.68 m) Adhesive weight 278,200 lb (126.2 tonnes) Loco weight 441,300 lb (200.2 tonnes) Total weight 809,000 lb (367.0 tonnes) Fuel type Coal Fuel capacity 52,000 lb (23.6 tonnes) Water cap. 19,000 US gallons (72,000 L; 16,000 imp gal) Firebox: ​  • Grate area 94.5 sq ft (8.78 m2) Boiler pressure 240 lbf/in2 (1.65 MPa) Cylinders Two, outside Cylinder size 27 in × 32 in (686 mm × 813 mm)
Performance figures Tractive effort Loco: 68,000 lbf (302.5 kN), Booster 11,100 lbf (49.4 kN)
Career Number in class 20 Nicknames American Freedom Train #1 George S. Cashman Retired 1956 (revenue) 1979 (excursion) Restored 1975 Disposition Static display at the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Museum

Reading 2101 is a 4-8-4 steam locomotive originally operated by the Reading Company. In 1975, the locomotive was the first to pull the American Freedom Train, which began touring the continental United States on April 1.

History 1923 to 1974

Reading 2101 is a T1 class 4-8-4 steam locomotive that was one of 30 4-8-4s that were converted from 30 I-10a 2-8-0 Consolidation locomotives from 1945 through 1947 by the Reading Railroad when management wanted faster and stronger locomotives, but had no spare cash to order completely new locomotives. Starting in 1945 the Reading took 30 of its 2-8-0s and converted them with a little help from Baldwin Locomotive Works into 30 new 4-8-4 locomotives that were numbered 2100-2129 and classified as class "T1". 2101 was originally built by Baldwin in 1923 as I-10a 2-8-0 #2021 and was converted to Reading 2101 in 1945. For its entire service life, 2101 pulled many freight and passenger trains with ease from 1945 to 1956 when all steam vanished on the Reading except for four T1's 2100, 2101, 2102, and 2124. 2101 was cared for in the Reading's Roundhouse from 1959 to 1964 as a standby locomotive for the famous "Iron Horse Ramble" Excursions, but was never used.

Oct 17, 1964 saw the 50th and last Ramble excursion when rising operational costs and deteriorating track forced the end of the special fan trips. In 1972, the 2101 was devastated since the roundhouse it was in caught on fire. 2101 was sent to the scrap yard to meet the same fate as many locomotives before her.

The 1975–76 American Freedom Train to Present Day

In 1975, the country was gearing up for America's Bicentennial and plans were underway for The American Freedom Train which would travel across the country stopping in dozens of cities and pulled by steam locomotives. Led by Ross Rowland, a nationwide search was carried out to search for locomotives in restorable condition to pull the train. Southern Pacific 4449 and Reading 2101 were selected for the trip. (A group of dedicated preservationists in Ft. Worth also rebuilt a steam locomotive that would pull the train in Texas, Texas and Pacific 610) 2101 was pulled from the scrapyard and restored to operating condition in only 30 days in the same building where she was constructed from a 2-8-0 nearly 30 years earlier—and painted as "American Freedom Train #1". 2101 pulled the eastern section of the trip before giving it to the 4449 in Chicago for the western section. On the return trip east, 2101 again took charge of the train at Birmingham, AL and pulled the train through much of New England, handing the train back to the 4449 at the Pentagon. Less than two years later, 2101 was repainted into a bright yellow and orange livery and pulled many excursions arranged by Ross Rowland on the Chessie System as the "Chessie Steam Special" before becoming victim to a 1979 roundhouse fire in Kentucky where she was damaged to such an extent that she was traded to the B&O Museum for Chesapeake & Ohio 614. Since then she has been cosmetically restored as "American Freedom Train #1" and is on static display. Upon restoration after the fire, her tender was swapped for the tender belonging to 2100. When locomotive 2100 was restored, the 2101 tender was also restored and converted to oil. The 2100 loco and 2101 tender are stored together in Richland, WA.

References

• The Story of America's Freedom Trains, Locomotives and Equipment. Retrieved January 17, 2006.
• SteamLocomotive.com, The Reading T-1. Retrieved January 17, 2006.

External links

• Steamlocomotive.com webpage.
• Reading 2101 and the 1975-1976 Bicentennial American Freedom Train.
• Webpage on the survivng T1's.
• Reading 2101 and the 1977-1978 Chessie Steam Special