Here's the complete story of how the 2101/614 deal came to be.

I went to Stevens,Ky. 3 days after the fire to give the 2101 an in depth examination aimed at determining the extent of her damages. The exterior appearance was ghastly as the coal in the tend had burned warping the tender sides and the extreme heat within the building ( caused in part by a ruptured diesel fuel tank under a GP-9) caused the boiler jacket to warp, the instruments in the cab to have their glass broken etc.

I was accompanied by two long time professional locomotive mechanics who did a careful inspection of the running gear and other vital parts. They reported that the crown brasses, grease pads etc. on the main drivers survived well, but that the heat had destroyed a number of lube lines going for the mechanical lubricators to various lube points.

It was the opinion of the pros that other than the warping and some lube lines needing replacement that the engine could be made safe to move.

As for restoring her to service their reservation centered on what ( if any) damage the extreme heat had done to her frame and running gear. They felt that there was a strong probability that she would be fine but hard to prove it.

In subsequent discussions between myself and Chessie CEO Hays Watkins it was deemed wise to not take any chances and use the opportunity to " upgrade" to the 614 a much more modern locomotive.

The publicly announced deal was we would swap titles to the 2 locomotives at a ceremony at the B&O Museum, we would cosmetically restore the 2101 to how she looked pulling the AFT as AFT 1, and Chessie would donate $ 100,000 towards restoring the 614 to steam. Shortly after the ceremony at the museum we moved the 614 to our space in the roundhouse in Hagerstown,Md. and 14 months later the 614 was back in steam.

And as Paul Harvey would say....now you know the rest of the story.

Ross Rowland

In this case, the fire was within a rectangular metal building.
Circa 1972, in the Cadillac & Lake City's engine house was a boxcar sized rubber tent used to fumigate boxcars of Michigan hay for a race track at Hialeah, Florida. On an adjacent track was Joe Roger's ex-CUT #25, the only extant 750 hp Lima Hamilton Diesel.

Don't have the details but the tent apparently burned slowly. Heavy smoke/soot coated the #25 inside and out. The insurance carrier paid Joe to clean the unit which included replacing most if not all of the control wiring and cleaning all the switch gear and rotating equipment.

Now operational on the Whitewater Valley tourist line, #25 may be joined by an operational 1,000 hp sister.

No. 9 was actually in *two* separate roundhouse fires, both in Phillips, Maine on the Sandy River.

The first, which Ed refers to, was in 1897 when as Sandy River RR No. 5 she was pulled out of the flames by engine No. 4 and her wooden cab was damaged.

The second was in 1923 as SR&RL No. 6 when she had the good fortune to be under steam and was able to return the favor by pulling the big Baldwin 2-6-2 No. 23 to safety.

-Philip Marshall

There is a former ATSF 2-6-2 in Texas that had been sold to a logging outfit and it was involved in a roundhouse fire. A few others can chime in on the details...

The Hecla & Torch Lake RR (Calumet & Hecla Mining Co.) roundhouse in Calumet, MI burned in January of 1887 and damaged a number of their locomotives, some to the point of being scrapped shortly after. H&TL #3 "Torch Lake" (1873 Mason 0-6-4T) was among those damaged and was later rebuilt to run again, although as a standard gauge locomotive vs. its original 4'-1" gauge. Although heavily rebuilt over the years and resembling its 1915-1930s (as retired) appearance, it still operates at Greenfield Village in Dearborn, MI after having been donated there in 1969. Also, though modified in later years, the roundhouse was rebuilt after the fire and also still stands in Calumet.

I believe it is the locomotive on the left hand side of the linked photograph taken during the reconstruction process. An identifying feature of its early pre-fire form were the plain cylinder head covers vs. the more styled ones such as on the somewhat newer locomotive to the right.

https://cchi.mtu.edu/copper-country-ima ... &nid=16503

There you go Ross, clouding the issue with facts. Even if 2101 had been deemed 110% safe, you would have been a fool NOT to upgrade to a more modern, easier to operate locomotive.

I’m aware of D&RGW 2-8-0 #223 (the one in Utah) being involved in 3 fires if I’m not mistaken. Two of which were at or near a roundhouse, and one was in preservation.

D&RGW #223, while under restoration, was stored next to the Ogden (UT) Candy Factory which went up in flames in 2006.

https://www.ksl.com/article/175222/fire ... n-building

Dave L., thank you for stating the obvious! R.R. get pilloried over the 2102/614 exchange all the time, yet the exchange was not only positive, it added another gorgeous, big locomotive to the rails. My only regret is the way 2101 was painted for her stuff-and-mount career, and then the manner in which she has been allowed to weather. She's pure Reading and deserves to be restored as such. -Just my opinion.

I know there are more than a few of us here who believe that Strasburg should have a "T Hog" in it's collection, and since the B&O Museum has been rationalizing it's collection in the past decade or so to concentrate on the B&O, rather than even the entire Baltimore area, the '01 would seem to be a good candidate for relocation. Of course it would have to be done without any money from the RRMPA, and with their approval, since their space is limited, and they have done rationalizing of their own recently, like sending NKP 757 to Bellevue. But I think it's worth serious consideration.

I too think that the 2101 would be a terrific addition to the RRMPA, but who know how that could work out, due to their restrictive acquisition procedures. It's a great Pennsylvania state representative for the collection, being manufactured and operated mostly in the Commonwealth.

Being a member of the RCT&HS, I'm pretty sure that they would also gladly welcome to the 2101 into their extensive Reading Railroad equipment collection! And it would be practically a neighbor to the 2102.

February 10, 1989 the Durango & Silverton Roundhouse burned with 6 locomotive inside: 473, 476, 478 (Alco-1923), 480, 481(Baldwin 1925) and 497 (Baldwin/DRGW-1930). All survived and eventually returned to service.

I think the OP was wondering how hot the fire would need to be before the heating and cooling changed the properties of the steel in the locomotive, i.e. the hardness of a metal can be changed by either heating and then quenching steel, or heating it and cooling it down slowly. I haven't a clue personally, all I remember from studying material dynamics years ago is that a classmate remembered malleability and ductility through the mnemonic mallard duck.

The German DB railroad museum had a huge fire at their loco shed at Gostenhof in 2005. They housed a working (1935) replica of their first locomotive, "der Adler" (the Eagle) which was repaired to steam again later. They lost some diesels determined total losses, and had a lot of engines/parts/cars badly damaged.