Revenue service By the end of the 1920s, the Philadelphia and Reading Company had approximately 1,015 class "I"
2-8-0 "Consolidation" types constructed by the Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) in
Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania, as well as the Reading's own locomotive shops in
Reading. One of those classes of 2-8-0s was the I-10sa class, and No. 2102 was one of the last I-10sa locomotives built in 1925, being numbered 2044 at the time. No. 2044 was solely used for heavy
freight service on the Reading's
Branch lines, and sometimes, on the
main line. When the Reading needed more heavier and powerful locomotives during the end of
World War II, they brought thirty of their Consolidations Nos 2020–2049, including No. 2044, into its locomotive shops in Reading. There, No. 2044 was heavily rebuilt into a 4-8-4 "Northern", and was reclassified as a T-1, being renumbered to 2102. Its four-axle
tender was replaced with a larger six-axle tender, its
boiler was extended, its
driving wheel diameter was increased, it received two extra
pilot wheels, and it received four
trailing wheels to support its enlarged firebox. No. 2102 was reassigned for mainline freight service only, just as the rest of its rebuilt sister locomotives were.
First excursion service in May 1971 In the Fall of 1960, the Carpenter Steel plant suffered a catastrophic
fire, badly damaging their primary
steam generator. After that, No. 2102 was sold back to the Reading Company, which one year prior had decided to spare a few of its T-1s from the
scrapper's torch for use on their final
excursion fan trips between
Wayne Junction in Philadelphia and
Shamokin, known as the "Iron Horse Rambles". After repairs made to No. 2102 were completed on April 29, 1962, it joined fellow T-1
No. 2100 and replaced
No. 2124, which was sold to
Steamtown, U.S.A. after breaking-down. It also performed doubleheaders with No. 2100. The Rambles ended in 1964, and by January 31, 1965, the last remaining T-1s were sold separately. No. 2102 was sold to Steam Tours, Inc., based in
Akron, Ohio, and led by Bill Benson. Beginning in 1966, No. 2102 operated in the
Northeast,
Mid-Atlantic, and
Midwest areas of the country. Its main storage site was at Milwaukee Junction in
Detroit,
Michigan, which was also where
Grand Trunk Western USRA 4-6-2 “Pacific”
No. 5629 was occasionally stored. In 1968, though, No. 2102 ran an excursion on Grand Trunk Western trackage when a minor
derailment damaged its Hennesey
oil lubricators on the second
driving axle, and the lubricator was subsequently converted to a grease
block. The locomotive sat idle for the next three years. In 1972,
Ross Rowland's High Iron Company (HICO) sponsored several excursions from Reading to
Harrisburg on the Reading's mainline to recreate the Iron Horse Rambles, and No. 2102 was loaned to HICO to be used to pull the trains. In 1973, during the sesquicentennial of the
Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H), No. 2102 was sent to the D&H's
Colonie, New York, shops to masquerade as
D&H K-62 4-8-4 No. 302, with
smoke deflectors, a
recessed headlight, raised "bug eye" marker lights and a D&H-style number board. In April, the locomotive performed a 2-day double-headed excursion with
Canadian Pacific 4-6-2 No. 1278, which masqueraded as D&H No. 653 at the time, from
Albany, New York, to
Montreal,
Quebec, in
Canada. For the rest of 1973, No. 302 pulled various excursions sponsored by HICO from
Hoboken, New Jersey, to
Binghamton, New York, and excursions sponsored by Steam Tours between
Pittsburgh and
Shawmut. In 1974, No. 2102 was sold to another Ohio tourist group, the Allegheny Group, where it was reverted to its Reading appearance, but it was re-lettered to "Allegheny". In 1977, it was sold again to another Ohio railroad group, Rail Diversified. Later that same year, No. 2102 performed a doubleheader along the famous
Horseshoe Curve with
Grand Trunk Western 2-8-2 No. 4070. However, that trip was plagued with mechanical issues; while on the curve, No. 4070 threw an eccentric rod, and the busy line where the train sat had to be shut down for several hours. As a result,
Conrail banned steam operations for the next several years. Soon, the 2102 was briefly overhauled, by volunteers at the
Monongahela Railway's locomotive shops in
Brownsville. On September 22, 1983, the 2102 was fired up and was used to pull a
freight train south of
Pittsburgh, and footage of it was recorded specifically for the 1984
romance film ''
Maria's Lovers''.
GP30 No. 5513 for a night photo session at the Reading locomotive shops in 1985 In September 1985, under the lease of the Reading Company Technical and Historical Society, No. 2102 travelled to the ex-Reading locomotive shops to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the debut of the Reading T-1 class. Andrew J. Muller, Jr., owner of the
Blue Mountain and Reading Railroad (BM&R), brought his steam locomotive for the event as well: Ex-
Gulf, Mobile and Northern 4-6-2 "Pacific" No. 425, which had recently been restored for the BM&R. During the event, Andy Muller, who had always wanted a Reading T-1, made the financially distressed owners of No. 2102 a generous offer, and purchased No. 2102 in 1986 at an undisclosed cost. No. 2102 then operated more mainline excursions on the BM&R, Conrail and
Gettysburg trackage. The locomotive also performed one doubleheader with No. 425 in 1988. Between December 1986 and 1987, No. 2102's tender was given the bold lettering “We the People of Reading and Berks County PA celebrate Constitution Day” to pay homage to the bicentennial of the
United States Constitution.
Hiatus and second restoration No. 2102's last run in the 20th century occurred on October 27, 1991, after pulling a special 12-car train called
The Anthracite Express to
Tamaqua, in celebration of the 160th anniversary of the opening of the
Little Schuylkill Navigation Railroad. Muller spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to rebuild the locomotive, with additional funds raised through ticket sales. The inside firebox sheets were replaced, 729 stay bolts were either replaced or repaired, and all flues and tubes were taken out. The rear support was also replaced after an unrepaired crack was discovered. all components, including the boiler, injectors,
feedwater heater, and stoker, were found to be in good working order. The locomotive was still not ready to run yet, as the cab still needed to be reinstalled; and it had borrowed No. 425's tender for the test-fire while its tender was still being repaired. The multi-year project had cost $2.4 million, and taken 5 years to complete.
Second excursion service In early April 2022, the restoration of No. 2102 to operational condition was completed, and the locomotive moved under its own power for the first time in 31 years. On April 26, No. 2102 performed another test run from Reading to Jim Thorpe and return, pulling a long line of fifty empty coal
hopper cars. On May 20, the final test run was made from Port Clinton to Tamaqua with 100 empty hopper cars before returning with 50 loaded hoppers. On May 28, No. 2102 re-entered excursion service, hauling the first
Iron Horse Ramble excursion from Reading to Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania with 19 sold-out passenger cars without diesel assistance. In the summer of 2024, No. 2102 pulled two new
Iron Horse Rambles round-trip excursions through the Lehigh River Gorge from Nesquehoning, Pennsylvania to Tunkhannock, Pennsylvania on June 22 and Pittston, Pennsylvania on August 17. On February 8, 2025, No. 2102 pulled its first winter season
Iron Horse Rambles excursion from Reading to Jim Thrope and back. It also pulled a
Rotary Club of Mountain Top sponsored excursion between
Mountain Top and Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania on September 13, 2025. ==See also==