Just a note, 2124 is back on display in Steamtown's parking lot. She is the first engine seen as visitors enter the park from Cliff St. I would say that she is well represented.

Got a picture?

And I will reiterate, from the first post to this thread, over a year and a half ago:

"I wonder if [this] photo will placate all those "Reading steam" fans who seemingly demand the unconditional return of Reading 2100 to Pennsylvania from Tacoma, Washington............."

I can't see the drive to save 2100 when 2102 is right next door to those in Reading. If they were really serious about seeing a T1 on the rails, they would hammer out a deal with Andy M and start fundraising. The engine could be Andy's so long as he wants and should he decide to sell or pass away, the engine would go to the museum for a predetermined price, less whatever the museum contributes to the rehab. There would be more to work out of course, but this is not an impossible task - they have a Reading engine, a ROW to run it on, and an owner who seems to be preservation-minded and could turn a profit in the interim, AND it would secure the future of 2102.

As for 2124, she is in good hands and does her part as a static display.

I find it interesting how, in this whole conversation, no one has mentioned 2101.

DAMMIT.
Now you've done it.

[retreats to bunker....]

Rabble Rabble Rabble Rabble Restore 2102 Rabble Rabble!

2101 is, literally, cooked.

2101, as far as I know, isn't in danger of being cut up where she stands. So while I'd love to see her repainted (even in AFT blue or Chessie Yellow) it's not a desperate situation.

In a perfect world, the RCT&HS would have the means to purchase the Reading shops and to appropriate 2100 for display there.

We do not live in a perfect world.

Listen, Im tired of hearing about the 2101 being unservicable because of the fire it was in. There was no official teardown to see what the extent of the damage was. I know this from several sources who were on the inside. It was just an excuse for ross rowland to get his hands on the 614 and thats it. Cant see how something that is made to have an intense fire in it could be damaged by a much cooler external fire. It doesnt make sense to begin with and plus the same tender that was in the fire is the one that is now on the 2100 out in washington. Even after the fire it was in better shape than the original 2100 tender which is now the one that is on the 2101. Ask one of the guys at the B&O museum if you want to confirm this. Now if the tender wasnt too damaged by the fire and was still usable, dont you thing the engine would be too. The metal is alot thicker on the engine than on the tender. When they did the swap all that had to be done was a paint job, there was not warping of any kind.

I don't know about the rest of you, but this looks/sounds like the typical poster whom is out to cause trouble and stir the proverbial pot of s***. Poor grammar, vocabulary, and ignorant statements with no factual backing make me think this is the protocol for a 14 year old foamer posting from his parent's basement.

My $ .02

DC

If the boiler was empty at the time of the fire, there could indeed be very serious damage, both structural and metallurgical. The only way a steam locomotive can survive the intense heat in its firebox is through the cooling effect of a boiler full of water. A locomotive with an empty boiler is doomed in a roundhouse fire, unless the fire burns out or is extinguished very quickly.

Add to that all the brass, babbit, iron castings, and other small ferrous parts found throughout a locomotive and tender, and it is easy to understand how a locomotive can essentially be destroyed by fire.

Any locomotive in this position needs a very exhausting study to determine its true condition before any informed statement can be made.

Not being even remotely involved with this locomotive, I cannot comment, but I felt it was very important to correct this misconception.

I'm sure Ross and several others here can comment on the locomotive's known condition, as well as what is probably a very long list of unknown factors that made repair a less attractive proposition.

Steve Hunter

Suggestion to axel............ please reach out for some help with your grammar and construction and use your real name in the future if you want your posts to be taken seriously.

When the 2101 was caught in the fire that totally destroyed the C&O roundhouse in Stevens, Ky. she did suffer some serious warping of her tender due to the coal in it igniting and some serious metal damage to all the exterior surfaces of the locomotive itself.

As has been discussed here and elsewhere at length in the past, a decision was made in consultation with the then CEO of the railroad ( Mr. Hays T. Watkins, a true gentleman, steam lover and a serious student of the industry's history and legacy) to not take any chances with the interior condition of the T-! but to fix her up cosmetically as she looked pulling the AFT and swap her for the 614. This was done at a ceremony at the B&O RR museum on Labor Day 1979. The Chessie system also donated $ 100k towards 614's restoration to service cost and I donated the rest.

I would have to agree that mounting a campaign to return the 2102 to service makes a lot more sense than trying to deal with the legal can of worms surrounding the 2100, not to mention the mechanical mess she is now.

As to AFT # 1,...... I remain hopeful that we'll find a way to raise some funding to help the B&O museum get her repainted as she certainly is in awful condition today.

Ross Rowland

Thanks Ross for the details.
I was working for the N&W in Cincinnati in March,1979 and had visited the 2101 in the Silver Grove, Ky. roundhouse several times. News of the huge fire was all over the local news and I visited the burned out site 2 days after the fire.
The one BIG POINT that no one I see here has made is this . . . . . boiler insulation works BOTH WAYS!! It insulates from a 400 degree boiler on the inside and it can insulate the boiler from a structure fire on the outside. The fire was mostly in the roof - this burned the paint off all the jacket above the running boards. The Reading 2100's have ALL the boiler jacketed, including smokebox and firebox sides. I submit there is no fire damage to the boiler.
The burning coal in the tender created a firestorm into the cab which melted all the aluminum conduit and lamp fittings. I would be suspect of all the bronze fittings in the cab and the pop valves.
Below the running boards, the grease was not melted off the rods. The 2101 was sitting on an inspection pit which supplied cool air up under the engine from the roundhouse heating system that had large air ducts blowing into all the pits.
The sides of the tender WERE badly warped as was the aux. tender ( NYC Mohawk tank from Van Wert,OH. first used on the Freedom Train). The 2101 now is displayed with the 2100's original tender. The 2100 now has the rebuilt 2101 tender. We replaced the warped side plates with new in the 1988 restoration at Hagerstown.
With the major running gear rebuild the 2101 received in Reading in 1978, I say she is still a pretty good horse. Let's hope the B&O Museum can see fit to keep her looking great - if not . . . . . maybe a better future awaits elsewhere.