I am shocked everyone is so quiet. I thought this place would be buzzing with the announcement and photos posted yesterday. R&N began restoration of RDG T-1 2102. Photos compliments of Steve Gilbert. This means we will have not 1 but 2 operating T-1's for the first time in years. What a time to be a railfan and a supporter of American Steam.

(Photos and captions by Steve Gilbert, Friends of the Reading Railroad Facebook page)


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So 2100 going in Cleveland and 2102 being restored in PA, simply awe inspiring.

Good news to hear! Thanks, James, for posting!

I caught wind of this 2 days ago, actually, before word officially broke, and decided to stay quiet.

It is worth noting however, that at this stage she's only in for inspection. The guiding light is still, like always, going to money. They've commented before that price tag was too high, though considering the Lehigh Gorge Scenic has been rather successful (100k passengers for 2015) and she'd have more than a few short miles to roam now, '02 is probably a more option viable now. The sea of people in Jim Thrope to see 765 pass thru probably created an itch.

Exciting to see where this may go.

Another positive note on the American steam scene. Thank you for posting.

Concerning the possibility of trips on the Lehigh Scenic route, are there means to turn the engine at both ends? I'm unsure what exists (wye maybe?) on the north end. There is (was) a turntable at Jim Thorpe. Last time I was there years ago it was full of water plus I'm not sure if it is long enough for a T1.

Jim Thorpe turntable photo taken 1991

This is perhaps the biggest benefit of Nickel Plate 765's grand tour of the East. The itch it created in the public, and sort of confirmation to the various railroad managers that steam works to bring people out.

No one ever knows what the future holds, or if all of these plans could lead to several steam projects seeing completion, but it definitely gets the attention and dare I say it, devotion of the public.

I wish the R&N crews all the luck in getting 2102 back under steam.

And why do they need to turn the 02 on the 8 mile Lehigh Gorge Scenic route?

Tender First, just like they did on the BM&R 13 mile Hamburg - Temple route.

Let's see if the costs are even feasible for reatoration before worrying about the minute details.

While I don't pretend to know what the Reading & Northern folks are thinking, I can't imagine they plan to use 2102 on the Lehigh Gorge Scenic trains out of Jim Thorpe. Since they are running ALL excursions under the LGS banner these days, they may well be using profits from that operation to fund the work on 2102. By restoring 2102 to service, they could operate their seasonal excursion trains out of Port Clinton to Jim Thorpe and/or from Jim Thorpe to Pittston without a diesel helper as is currently the case with 425. Again, let me emphasize that I have no inside information -- this is just theory on my part.

It should be noted that their nearly 100,000 passengers last year were pulled mostly behind diesel, which puts to shame the claim that "only steam draws big numbers".....not if you have a good marketing budget, a good marketing person or staff, pay attention to the little deatails, and not to mention, a willing CEO and overall staff with the ability to lead.

There are several PA tourist roads that could heed lessons form the LGSRY.

Heck, just their ticket prices and policies are a breath of fresh air.

Glad to see this ,, It just made my day.

Oh, it makes mine, too.

Have to be always grateful to the T-1, which introduced me to main line steam with a Chessie cat on the tender, and this engine again reminding me (along with others, such as 611) what main line steam was about out of Hamburg.

Good luck to all involved!

You make a great point, Junior, and more than PA roads can learn a lesson. The R&N passenger department has always been very good. Crews smile, cars are clean and fares are reasonable.

And the marketing rocks. By that, I mean more than advertising. Look at what they have done with the bike trains as evidence of how they have evolved.

While chasing #765 this past summer, I realized there were more trains in the Lehigh Gorge in one day than I had ever seen before... and they were all passenger trains! In my 35 years of infatuation with shooting trains on the CNJ/LV in PA there was never a day that matched these two for volume of traffic.

The LGSRY is great case study on a number of levels.

Rob

" Word on the street" is than Andy Muller would like to restore his 2102 to operation to help celebrate his 70th. birthday in 2017.

Those folks who know him well are very skeptical that when he gets the high 6 figure to low 7 figure cost estimates that he will give the effort a go.

As a T-1 lover I sure hope that the skeptics will be proven wrong.

As the hostess on the Strange Inheritence TV program always says as she ends the program " and remember you can't take it with you". Let's hope Andy is a regular viewer!!

Time will soon tell.

Ross Rowland

A guy I was talking at the RCT&HS said that R&N was talking like the entire boiler must be retubed and that the cab is only sitting on the engine, not actually connected, among other things. The price tag may be significantly offset by recent car storage all over the R&N, especially with the BM&R being entirely blocked in with tank cars.