Steam & Excursion > Sad Saga of Rdg. 2100

I was reflecting on the awful string of luck poor 2100 has had for the last 42 years. When I bought her and her sister 2101 they'd been in the Striegel scrapyard in Baltimore for about 15 years and 2100 was selected to do the honors of being the one restored to pull the American Freedom Train and the 01 to be her parts donor. Then she spent the next 13 years sitting in the Hagerstown,Md. roundhouse functioning as a catchers mit for the pigeon droppings from the larger resident bird population until Mr. Richard Kughn came along and hired Bill Benson to fix her up for excursion duties. With Kughn investing about $ 1,000,000.00 ( 1988 dollars= about $2,500,000.00 current dollars) by 1990 she was restored to like new condition and ready to do the honors pulling excursions out of the Detroit area for Mr. Kughn who had also bought the Lionel Corporation and would use the 2100 as his promotion tool. Sadly, his attorneys convinced him that the liability issue was too big and the order was given to sell her. At auction she sold for $ 312,000.00 in 1995 to a Canadian Thomas Payne who installed a rube Goldberg oil firing set-up he designed that was an abject failure. After a series of totally failed excursions run out of Tacoma, Washington she was hauled off to a storage field in central Washington state where she sat forlorn until 2 years ago when along came the Cavalry in the form of the American Steam Railroad ( ASR) who convinced the owner who got her title from Payne when he defaulted on his loan ( with the engine as collateral) to lease her to them, pay the costs of flatcaring her to Cleveland,Ohio where they had an appropriate shop in which to restore her to service and a place to run her. 

    With this weeks news that ASR  and landlord Midwest are not getting along well it's my hope that the 2 entities can find common ground and get back to the business of seeing the 2100 comne back to a useful life. There's always 2 sides to every story so let's hope that none of the issues involved in this spat are beyond resolving. 

    It would be a shame for ASR to have gone to all this effort for naught.

    IMHO-Ross Rowland

    



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/05/17 04:38 by co614.

I'm sure there will be a heavily edited and redacted dodging of facts report released.

I agree with Ross. Something does not sound right to me.

Posted from iPhone

"After a
> series of totally failed excursions run out of
> Tacoma, Washington.....". co614 ....

RR, actually  it was ONE trip.....
None of the appliances were operated on their own, save for the injector and the whistle....the 6-axle diesel provided the MR air for the brakes and the oil burner,. As well as the main tractive power for the train.  There was not enough steam to run any of the appliances...

The poor 2100 was totally incapable of building up a head of steam.....the air powered burner was woefully inadequate when it comes to generating enough BTUs to build up greater steam pressure ----- over 100 psi,   ( the oil supply tank was pressurized, and connected to the burner by clear flex hose ..
.if the oil hose burst in the cab, or the screw clamps came loose, the whole oil tank would flood the entire cab in under 10 seconds...  resulting in a cab inferno...

When I entered the cab, the day before, I was astounded by the sight of Payne , lounging in the fireman's seat, trying to operate the air atomizer valves  and nurse the pressurized oil tank.   He was cycling the oil firing valve back and forth ---- in a futile effort to raise the pressure over 50 psi.....after 12 hours of the continued, futile efforts.

I asked Payne who had built the burner, he proudly said: " I DID"!   I muttered:  that was OBVIOUS!!!

The engine was never in much danger, pressure-wise, ------ the rest of the operation, coupled with the mgmnt of Tacoma RR, that had been stiffed,  financially, by Payne ---- sealed the fate at just one trip... A total disaster.

It was a scary run...John Marino, my customer, asked if I wanted to ride the cab.... HELL NO, was my reply.
I advised John to not make any move to support the operation, in any way...
He took my advice...

​W.

RIP,  John Marino...

Ross said
"When I bought her and her sister 2101 they'd been in the Striegel scrapyard in Baltimore for about 15 years and 2100 was selected to do the honors of being the one restored to pull the American Freedom Train and the 01 to be her parts donor."

A typo.  Obviously the other way around.  2101 became AFT 1. 

wcamp1472 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> RR, actually  it was ONE trip.....

2100 ran more than one trip in Tacoma.

What's even sadder is why the Reading RR Historical Society located in Reading, PA has never indicated an interest in 2100. That would be the perfect display for Reading, PA. Just like comin home again.

Jim
Hatboro, PA

Chooch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What's even sadder is why the Reading RR
> Historical Society located in Reading, PA has
> never indicated an interest in 2100. That would be
> the perfect display for Reading, PA. Just like
> comin home again.
>
> Jim
> Hatboro, PA

We already have one T-1 quietly rusting away in PA already.

Posted from Android

This is definitely a sad sutuation. I was heavily tempted to donate a few hundred dollars to them however I was very leary on donating in case something like this happened being that they already had the Frisco 1352 and barely had done anything with it. I was beyond happy that the engine was coming back to the east like many others but now I hope nothing worse happens to it. At least we'll have 2102 around here by the end of the year. But like Ross said 2100 has had some pretty misersble luck and it's a shame.

Posted from Android

Chooch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What's even sadder is why the Reading RR
> Historical Society located in Reading, PA has
> never indicated an interest in 2100.

Maybe a question of cost or storage space?

nhiwwrr Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Chooch Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > What's even sadder is why the Reading RR
> > Historical Society located in Reading, PA has
> > never indicated an interest in 2100. That would
> be
> > the perfect display for Reading, PA. Just like
> > comin home again.
> >
> > Jim
> > Hatboro, PA
>
> We already have one T-1 quietly rusting away in PA
> already.
>
> Posted from Android
​The Pennsylvania Railroad Museum in Strasburg, PA was interested in the 2100, having it cosmetically restored and placed in their museum.  I wonder if they are still interested?  The other sad thing is that the poor 2101 is being allowed to rust away in the front yard of the B&O R.R. Museum in Baltimore.  Both of these engines deserve better since they have survived all these years from 1945 to now, wow, that's 72 years.
John

So where are all of the T-1's located? 2100 Cleveland, 2101 at B&O Museum, is there a 2102? 2103?

Posted from iPhone

In better times?????

Ed

---

CPRR Wrote:
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> So where are all of the T-1's located? 2100
> Cleveland,

Correct.

2101 at B&O Museum,

Correct.

is there a 2102?

Yes, owned by Andy Muller, Blue Mountain & Reading RR (or whatever the name of their big system is now). He also owns and operates that fantastic 4-6-2.

> 2103?

Scrapped.

The only other reaming Reading T1 is #2124, which is displayed at Steam Town in Scranton, PA.

 

Andy Mueller's system is now known simply as the Reading & Northern.

Not sure what the RRMofPA would stand to gain by being interested in any of the T-1s as they all have owners and homes.

TrackGuy

Posted from Android

Well the 2100 doesn't have a home, or at least a long term home.

Posted from iPhone

Chooch Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What's even sadder is why the Reading RR
> Historical Society located in Reading, PA has
> never indicated an interest in 2100. That would be
> the perfect display for Reading, PA. Just like
> comin home again.
>
> Jim
> Hatboro, PA

​The RCT&HS is located in Hamburg, PA. at the end of the R&N's Pennsy Branch and is currently inaccesssable due to tank car storage on that line.

Chris Bost
Leesport, PA

How goes the work on 2102 these days?

Posted from Android

Doug Wetherhold
Macungie, PA

I'd vote WORSE times in that picture.

Posted from Android

ALCO630 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How goes the work on 2102 these days?
>
> Posted from Android

​Work is progressing. Looking at sometime in 2018 to be completed.

Chris Bost
Leesport, PA