Reading & Northern 2102: The Fall Foliage Rambler-October 29, 2022

On a cloudless Saturday, we ventured out to the Reading & Northern Railroad with Stovell Productions once again to see Reading T-1 no. 2102 haul a Fall Foliage trip between Reading and Jim Thorpe, PA. This is the first time we've successfully chased any steam power on the Reading & Northern without any rain. 2102 was equipped with both a Reading 6-chime whistle and a Reading hooter whistle.

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 Reading Outer Station
0:28 Cross Keys Road [To Jim Thorpe]
2:06 CP Muller/Hamburg
3:15 Hawk Mountain
4:20 Tuscarora Park Road
5:55 Hometown
7:30 Nesquehoning
8:50 Industrial Road [RDCs; Return trip to Reading]
11:19 Barnesville
12:15 Hecla
13:32 Molino
14:34 Berne
15:53 Reading Outer Station

Check out the people we chased with:
Stovell Productions:    / @jmacncheese1637  
Keeper of Steam Studios:    / @keeperofsteamstudios6654  
The Big Banana Railfan:    / @thebigbananarailfan  
I-Trooper089 Productions:    / itrooper089productions  
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Upcoming Events
Sunday November 13: N&W 611 at SRC [TBD]
Saturday-Sunday December 10-11: CNJ 113 Santa Trains [Exact Date TBD]
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Credits:
Executive Directors: thehnw1223 and trainboy105
Producers: thehnw1223 and trainboy105
Video Editing/Revisions: thehnw1223
Photo & Video Credit: thehnw1223

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