Reading 2124 Restoration

arjay3 · **Joined:** Fri Jul 22, 2005 9:50 pm **Posts:** 162

Well put regarding what they have been able to accomplish in recent years. A lot has been done regarding infrastructure which fans and outsiders generally do not see.
Remember a basic fact that any regular service steam locomotive at Steamtown needs to fit the turntable for basic servicing and boiler washes to be done. The T1 and other large locomotives at Steamtown do not fit without the tender being detached thus the likelyhood for operation is near zero.
Even the diesels need to be turned one-at-a-time even though it is likely the pair of F3's wheelbase would fit but the railing is too close to accomadate the overhang of the pilots.

6-18003 wrote:

Well anything could happen, but I really think that Steamtown has found their "formula," and it has stuck to it for quite some time. Kip Hagen has bumped things up a bit, and while it may seem like everything moves at a snail's pace, they have finally pushed the abatement program though, kept up the roundhouse and visitor areas, restored at least ten pieces of rolling stock in ten years (roughly 1 per year), brought in the diesels to help flesh out what they have to offer, and have kept 3254 on the rails while advancing restoration work on two other engines. Not too shabby.

Steamtown has found what works for the amount of people that they bring in combined with what the federal government chooses to budget them. If the FEDs weren't pushing to keep steam on-site, we probably wouldn't see #26 being restored, but someone understands that the excursions are a major draw and great advertisement for the park. So in order to stave off the diesels taking over the excursions completely, you need a yard goat plus a main line engine - running both means that operating costs go up and staff is strained, all in the name of keeping the excursions going.

I don't see the size or scope of the main line consist changing much at all, and certainly not converted coal cars with practically no suspension hauling octogenarians. I think they could benefit from an operator's type trip, where a small group could ride behind a switcher in a caboose and be allowed to get out and throw switches, help signal the train to couple, etc. Of couse this would require a lot of supervision and could not be done all the time, but if they could tie it in with a really hands-on shop tour they could charge a premium and I think there would be a waiting list. I don't even know how much legally they could get away with.

I have only made a suggestion as to what could possibly put a T1 back on Steamtown's main line, while fitting in with the established operating plan that has been in place at the park for over a decade. If Muller can double his profits while giving Steamtown a break to catch up on other projects and save a few bucks on operating costs (2102 would no doubt use Muller's crew and workshop in most cases, plus use HIS time and resources for restoration), it's a win-win all around. Not too sure what restrictions the FEDs may place on Muller or what other problems may crop up, but this topis is in regards to 2124 and not just Steamtown in general, so that's why I'm keeping it to the T1s.

This is an easy enough concept to try, they can begin by using 425 as soon as the blow by issue is repaired. From what I have seen the park is open to cooperative ventures so long as it meets whatever guidelines the FEDs have established.

Wowak · **Posted:** Thu Jun 30, 2011 11:14 pm

Alexander D. Mitchell IV wrote:

I beg to differ.

If by "I beg to differ" you mean "I'm going to go off on a tangent answering to statements that you never made then I agree with everything you said.

All I said was that 2102 locked in a shed is no longer a strong reason why 2124 isn't a viable engine. There may be 1000 good reasons to NOT restore 2124, but 2102 is NOT one of them. That's the ONLY point I made, and I don't know where half of what you said is coming from.

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Thu Jun 30, 2011 11:58 pm

What I was responding to was:

Quote:

the "another T-1 nearby" argument stopped being valid 15 years ago

I've never heard that reason postulated to disregard restoring 2124 cosmetically, but I (and others) have raised that reason with regards to both the suggested restoration to operation of 2124 and the proposed/demanded repatriation of 2100 from Washington.

Paint and sheet metal are relatively cheap, unless bureaucrats get involved.

6-18003 · **Joined:** Thu Jun 17, 2010 9:31 am **Posts:** 728

Afboone wrote:

6-18003, That would have to be worked out with Steamtown. A good point of contact would be the folks who own the F3s there now. Plus the thing is they, the owners of 2102 would need to contact Steamtown. I don't think Steamtown is in the business of looking for more stuff. Mr Rowland would be a good contact too. He knows the management of Steamtown, I think, and would be a reference to see what could be done. Anything is possible.

Well seeing as I have no untold millions, no locomotive, and no horse in the game outside of conjecture, I believe I will leave that end up to Kip Hagen, Mr. Muller, and whomever else may be so inclined. I'm not even a big T1 fan, just highlighting a possible path.

Wowak · **Posted:** Fri Jul 01, 2011 9:30 pm

Alexander D. Mitchell IV wrote:

What I was responding to was:

Quote:

the "another T-1 nearby" argument stopped being valid 15 years ago

Then you rambled on an on about how BM&R couldn't make money, and it's a storage track now, and a bunch of other unrelated run-on thoughts. Maybe go back and read what you wrote?

Alexander D. Mitchell IV · **Posted:** Sat Jul 02, 2011 1:01 am

Wowak wrote:

Alexander D. Mitchell IV wrote:

What I was responding to was:

Quote:

the "another T-1 nearby" argument stopped being valid 15 years ago

Then you rambled on an on about how BM&R couldn't make money, and it's a storage track now, and a bunch of other unrelated run-on thoughts. Maybe go back and read what you wrote?

That explanation is part and parcel of explaining that, romantic desires aside, there isn't a *market* for multiple T1's. Steamtown should have one, and it's handy that there's on in private hands belonging to someone with the sympathy to try and run her, if all goes well financially for him.

Your "stopped being a valid answer" remark seemed to regard 2102 as being in the same place as GTW 5629. That's not the case. And Reading fans' energies would be better put to the kind of ideas suggested by "6-18003" than by trying to get 2124 running or 2100 back east.

choochoodennis · **Joined:** Mon May 31, 2010 12:29 am **Posts:** 10

And to think this detailed discussion started with two pictures I took of 2124, the first locomotive I ever saw under steam...

Note in the attached photo you can see the original boiler and just how much the thrifty Reading had to add to make it long enough.

joe6167 · **Posted:** Sat Jul 02, 2011 1:27 am

Any more photos or actual news on this engine?

Les Beckman · **Joined:** Tue Aug 02, 2005 1:25 pm **Posts:** 6482

choochoodennis wrote:

And to think this detailed discussion started with two pictures I took of 2124, the first locomotive I ever saw under steam...

Note in the attached photo you can see the original boiler and just how much the thrifty Reading had to add to make it long enough.

Choochoodennis -

Your posting of this photograph of 2124 showing the work of the Reading in converting 2-8-0 2024 into a 4-8-4 has finally made this "discussion" all worth while!
Thanks so very much!

Les

choochoodennis · **Joined:** Mon May 31, 2010 12:29 am **Posts:** 10

joe6167 wrote:

Any more photos or actual news on this engine?

These pictures I took of 2124 were taken 5/6/11. I don't know what else is planned for the locomotive.

As you all know, I was there when 2124 was being spotted in the paint shop. It was the first time I had seen those huge drivers roll in almost 50 years. And as you can imagine, it was a very special moment for this T-1 fan.

daylight4449 · **Posted:** Sat Jul 02, 2011 9:28 pm

Well, she's missing some of the important jewelry, but after that, we're talking one of the most stunning displays at Steamtown!

G. W. Laepple · **Joined:** Mon Aug 23, 2004 5:10 pm **Posts:** 1182

50 years ago, less 13 days, I stood on the platform at the Reading station in Lansdale as 2124 burst out of the early morning fog. Moments later, I boarded an Iron Horse Ramble that took us that day north on the Bethlehem Branch to Bethlehem, over the CNJ to Allentown and down the East Penn and Lebanon Valley branches to Indian Echo Cave and Hershey Park. We retraced our route to Reading, then headed down the main line to Philadelphia, where 2124 cut off at Wayne Jct. and diesels returned us, tired and soot-coevered, to Lansdale. It was four days after my 14th birthday, and that trip changed my life forever. I've never forgotten the thrill of my first trip behind a T-1.

robertjohndavis · **Joined:** Mon Aug 23, 2004 8:10 am **Posts:** 2499

Agreed, Les!

Talk about a picture worth a thousand words! Thanks for sharing, Dennis.

As for the rest of this thread...

I am wondering if the mods would open up a second forum called "Friction Bearings" where all the content unfit for interchange could go. It could be a digital monument for complaints about Steamtown, #1361, quarry quarry, Dick Jensen, "if I had a million dollars," and so on. ;-)

Les Beckman wrote:

choochoodennis wrote:

And to think this detailed discussion started with two pictures I took of 2124, the first locomotive I ever saw under steam...

Note in the attached photo you can see the original boiler and just how much the thrifty Reading had to add to make it long enough.

Choochoodennis -

Your posting of this photograph of 2124 showing the work of the Reading in converting 2-8-0 2024 into a 4-8-4 has finally made this "discussion" all worth while!
Thanks so very much!

Les

6-18003 · **Joined:** Thu Jun 17, 2010 9:31 am **Posts:** 728

robertjohndavis wrote:

Agreed, Les!

Talk about a picture worth a thousand words! Thanks for sharing, Dennis.

As for the rest of this thread...

I am wondering if the mods would open up a second forum called "Friction Bearings" where all the content unfit for interchange could go. It could be a digital monument for complaints about Steamtown, #1361, quarry quarry, Dick Jensen, "if I had a million dollars," and so on. ;-)

Again I want to state that my comments are not complaints, I know it can be hard to judge tone over an internet board at times. The excursions, while probably the most prolific aspect of the park, are no doubt quite low on the list of funding priorities and scope of the mission statement.

We are lucky to have what we have in regards to operating equipment, and the best avenue towards seeing more is to generate ideas that both make money and work within the existing framework of the park.

That framework dictates that anything outside of a cosmetic restoration on 2124 is just wasteful. That being said, I do think that Steamtown fully appreciates the importance of 2124, and will do their best to properly display the engine and preserve it for the future. She is still in the back shop area, along with 6039, and hopefully she will be back in place for Railfest.

Richard Glueck · **Posted:** Sun Jul 03, 2011 7:47 pm

Will that be under cover?
Great photo of her "un-dressed", showing how the locomotive was fabricated. I read up on her needed repairs, and it does seem like a great deal of money for a large locomotive that might be...uh...too big.