Why bother to go on a steam trip if you can't catch a few cinders and enjoy the roar? My tickets for the May 28 2102 trip are in plain coach, with open windows! The last main line steam trip I was on, way back in 1996, featured 614 to Port Jervis. We were in Metro North coaches, all sealed up. The only place to enjoy the trip was in the vestibule of a control car, where there was a sliding half window for the engineer. There was a line of people taking turns at those windows-- some longer than others -- once they figured it out.

Because:

1) The groups that formed to save open-window coaches for mainline excursion service all folded by the mid-1990s, the victim of declining options for running such cars in an excursion marked literally destroyed by skyrocketing liability insurance costs, increased insurance demands by host railroads, and declining willingness of major railroads to even consider such excursions;

2) Many open-window car designs, especially in the East, are around a century old and were not designed for long-term storage/use, and quickly deteriorated to terminal body rot. Among these were PRR P54 designs, NYC coaches, multitudes of B&O heavyweight rebuilds, and many Pullman-Standard and ACF designs;

3 Modern generations are not only increasingly risk-averse, but increasingly reactionary to perceived hazards, and we are therefore lectured to sit up straight, not put hands or other things outside the windows, etc. I've been told of someone who threatened a lawsuit against one coal-burning excursion line for a cinder in the eye leading to a scratched cornea......

4) The people who two generations ago would have thrilled to enjoying the sounds and sights of mainline steam are now the retired, cruise-line market, spending their kids' inheritances on dome car/parlor tickets.

Further proof:
The Grand Canyon Railway, arguably one of the most visible and prominent tourist railway operations in the world, has but one open window car amongst its two regular Canyon trainsets (ironically named Pullman), and now reserves its full trainset of ex-SP open-window commuter coaches for short-turn Polar Express duty. (Mitigating factors: Extremely variable weather in the high desert where the line runs, ranging from snow squalls and cold winters to the potential for triple digit heat, and 2.25 hour runs each direction.)

That was why I rode standard coach when I took the fall trip behind #425 last year. Well, that and I took two people along with me and didn't want to shell out for three dome car tickets. When I got on at Reading, there were quite a few people miffed that they weren't allowed in the front three passenger cars, because those were reserved for people getting on at Port Clinton. Once we made the stop at Port Clinton, they badgered the conductor into letting them move forward into those cars because they wanted to be as close to the action as possible.

I wasn't looking for another railfan debate of "are open window coaches good or bad" but wondered about the demand for such cars when they are available. Data from someplace like Cuyahoga Valley, who has offered both open and closed window coaches previously when 765 visits, would answer such a question. Do open window coaches sell slower, faster, or statistically the same as closed window coaches?

Tickets for the open door baggage car on the Joliet Rocket trips were priced at $250.00 apiece and sold out immediately before anything else. There is a market for that experience.

I can't say that that open-window coaches by themselves have moved the needle measureably elsewhere such as CVSR, except to say that there are people who prefer it and make it known if they aren't available.

I did notice that the standard/open window coach seats for 2102 were last to sell out, but the number of tickets was also greater to begin with.

KL

When we ran the 614 powered Hoboken-Port Jervis trips we offered open window seats in 2 ex PRR P=70 coaches at reasonable prices during the second and third years of the program and on a number of the trips not all 120 seats sold.

The diehard steam fan base shrinks with every passing year and I doubt the market demand is there to justify the expense of keeping an O/W coach up to Amtrak mechanical standards.

Don't get me wrong. I totally agree that to enjoy the " full monty" of mainline steam an O/W coach is a mandatory piece ( along with NO diesel in the consist, track speed, real multi speed runbys) but in today's reality that's not possible.

Kissing our sister will need to suffice.

Sad but true. Ross Rowland

I was an hour late to order tickets online for the May 28th trip, and all of the premium seating was already sold out. I purchased plain coach tickets for my son and I, and enjoyed the thought of the functional windows. Maybe I'll see you on the train.

The R&N does a great job on their passenger trains, and I've never had a bad experience, regardless of the seating. The worst experience I had was a hot July "Ride & Dine" trip to Tamaqua in the RDCs back in 2020 when the air conditioning in our car died. But, it wasn't that bad, since the windows opened and they had free cold sodas on board.

I'm looking forward to finally riding behind the 2102, since I wasn't around this side of the state for her 1990's trips, but I did see her in the roundhouse at the Monongahela Railroad. I rode behind the 2101 on the Chessie Steam Special as a kid, which is what probably got me hooked on trains.

Reading & Northern Passenger Department posted photos on Facebook of the 2102 being painted last week, and then today they had photos of her being reunited with her tender.

2102 also has a fire in her today. While I’ve heard many bits and pieces of info, sounds like there’s a series of planned tests this week. So far I’ve heard it’s expected to move sometime between Wednesday and Saturday..

Hello,

From the photos posted, it looks like the R&N made the extra effort for a premium overhaul. Not sure if ever appeared as nice as it does now, except when it was freshly built? Reminded me of the appearance of the 2100 after irs restoration at Hagerstown before it left the area.

I hope to ride behind my old friend in the next few years.

Regards,

Randy

https://fb.watch/cdpsI1ZaQR/

R&N went live today on Facebook with the first test moves of #2102 around Port Clinton. She looks and sounds great.

I noticed the cab had woodlining. Did it always have that?

There's good from the ground video of the test run on YouTube. They didn't hold back on the throttle today, did they?

I watched the runby. Is the hooter whistle original to the engine from some point in the RDG era?

All T1s were equipped with hooters. During the Rambles they were double equipped with hooters and six chimes.