Reading & Northern 2102: Fall Foliage in Coal Country-October 19, 2024

On a sunny and brisk Saturday we ventured out to the Reading & Northern Railroad to witness 2102 haul a Fall Foliage train between Reading Outer Station and Jim Thorpe and return. The foliage around the region had just reached its peak, making this chase all the more special as we have chased these fall foliage trains either too early or too late of the peak. The colors and the sunny weather helped bring all the fall colors together beautifully.

RBMN 2102 History:
2102 was originally built as I10sa 2-8-0 no. 2044 by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, PA in 1923. 2044 would be tasked with hauling freight trains throughout the Reading system. During World War II, the Reading Company needed stronger longer locomotives to handle all the wartime freight. Due to wartime restrictions, the railroad could not build a brand-new locomotive class from scratch, however, a loophole in the restrictions allowed them to rebuild 30 of their 45 I10sa 2-8-0s into T-1 4-8-4 locomotives. 2044 was rebuilt in 1945 at the Reading shops and would be renumbered to 2102.

Following its rebuild, 2102 operated freight trains until the late 1950s when it was placed into storage, but then was temporarily brought back into service in 1962 for the Reading Company's "Iron Horse Rambles". Following the conclusion of these excursions in 1964, 2102 was retired from service.

After a lengthy excursion mainline career from 1966-1984, 2102 was sold to Andrew Muller for use on his Blue Mountain & Reading Railroad. 2102 operated on the BM&R from 1985-1991. In early 2016, Reading & Northern announced that 2102 would be restored to operational condition, with her first official test run completed on April 6, 2022.

Timestamps:
0:00 Leesport [NB]
2:03 Hawk Mountain
3:13 East Mahanoy Junction
4:35 Marian Ave
5:49 Nesquehoning
7:30 Panther Creek
8:45 Tuscarora Park Road
10:14 Molino
11:19 West Hamburg
12:27 Reading Outer Station

Check out all the people who we were with this trip:
‪@JMacNCheese1637‬
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