Nostalgia & History > 40 Years Ago

40 years ago this month, Reading T1 #2101 was pulled from a scrapyard in Baltimore and in 30 days, was restored to operation for service on the point of the American Freedom Train. Here's to all of those that pulled off the '30 Day Miracle' ....

Regards,
Burlington John

www.freedomtrain.org

---

John, where was this shot taken?
Thanks
SR

The Reading 2101 was in standby service for the Reading Rambles when the Reading Company operated them with 2100, 2102, and 2124 from 1959 through 1964. Since it had been maintained but never operated in any of the Rambles, it was in fairly good shape when it was pulled for restoration. Ross Rowland and his crew did an outstanding job of restoring this engine down at the B&O Riverside Roundhouse (gone today) in South Baltimore, not far from Fort McHenry. This was one great locomotive and even though it was damaged in a fire after the 2nd year it was in operation in 1978 pulling the Chessie Steam Special Train, when it was cosmetically restored, it was donated to the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore where it now sits outside, un-glorified collecting rust, and the management at the B&O Railroad Museum DOES NOT CARE. Shame on them, this engine should be restored to where it should look operational and put in a proper place for the public to see and learn about the history of the 2101.

John in White Marsh, Maryland

burlingtonjohn Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> 40 years ago this month, Reading T1 #2101 was
> pulled from a scrapyard in Baltimore and in 30
> days, was restored to operation for service on the
> point of the American Freedom Train. Here's to
> all of those that pulled off the '30 Day Miracle'
> ....
>
> Regards,
> Burlington John
>
> www.freedomtrain.org

Has Cheyenne heard about this?

BoilingMan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> John, where was this shot taken?
> Thanks
> SR


SR,

I'm not sure. I want to say somewhere in Vermont (the slide is not marked). This is a shot of the display site ... perhaps someone out there can tell us?

Regards,
Burlington John

---

Looks like its on a river--bigger than Vermont would have...

Wow, snow! The AFT tried to avoid winter as best it could, guess it caught 'em! I don't know a lot about the very early days of the tour- and this really is early. In New England for sure- the T-1 only wore the paint scheme for the first few weeks- it was gone by June.
Ross- are you seeing this? When did the 2101 get the red running board stripe?
SR

(I'm leaning towards Portland, Maine- but it's going to take a little research)

Found it- Burlington, Vermont- the 3rd stop of the AFT April 11 & 12, 1975 . The site is very much changed now. The body of water is Lake Champlain.
SR



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/02/15 22:45 by BoilingMan.

---

A poster that I picked up at the crew reunion this past September in Columbus. According to Todd Schannuth, it is relatively rare as only 5 display sites had posters of this design. Proud to have it in my AFT collection ....

Regards,
Burlington John

---