Ross described the initial restoration of #2101 well, and as a member of that group who performed what was called the "30 day miracle" I thought I'd add a bit to it. I had just arrived in the DC area in the Air Force and when I went to the first railfan club meeting I attended (the RRE group who met in Laurel, MD, half way between DC and Balto) they were recruiting for the work on the loco. I had a four day on and four day off schedule which allowed me to be there for several days in a row, usually during the week. There was a slumbercoach (no mattresses)next to the roundhouse, with a diner that served meals to us, and Ross's office car. All I needed was a sleeping bag I got from recreation supply and I was set, as the roundhouse had toilets. During the week there was only a small group working but on the weekend the loco looked like an ant hill, with lots of people on it. Our group included people from all walks of life, from high school kids to a Chessie VP (after business hours). We were awaken at 6 AM for breakfast, had lunch at noon, and dinner at 6 PM, them worked until 9 PM. I started by scraping rust off parts and wound up installing most of the staybolt caps, working with the sheet metal guys on the jacket, and learned a lot. We also sometimes had to undo what had been done on the weekend, like digging insulation out of clean out fittings on the firebox that had been covered over. When the loco was moved outside the first time it found some light rail that it promptly rolled over, derailing several wheels. The guys used the opportunity to get at some parts of the driver tires that were behind the rods before and paint them while the railroad worked to re-rail it. Great memories come back thinking about it.

Thanks Ron for your first hand account. Yes, it truly was a 30 day miracle to be able to take an engine that had sat in a junkyard for well over a decade and make it a runner in 30 days. Much credit goes to Bill Benson and the entire company ( paid & volunteer) who made it happen. I've seen photos taken showing what appears to be at least 50 persons working all over the machine and yes, they do appear like ants on a piece of candy !!!

Credit also goes to GM ( one of our 5 co-sponsors) who used their considerable muscle to prod certain suppliers ( i.e. Babcock & Wilcox for the new superheaters) to put us in the front of the line for parts on back order. Without that help there's no way we'd have been able to do in 30 days what takes most folks MUCH longer that that.

Great memories.

Happy New Year, Ross Rowland