| As
WWII was drawing to a close in 1945, the Reading Railroad examined
their existing roster of motive power and realized they did not
own any of the super-power steam locomotives that most other railroads
owned and operated. The decision to obtain some of these locomotives
was paramount, but with wartime restrictions still in place, the
Reading had to look to their existing fleet for conversion. The
I10-sa Class 2-10-0 locomotive fit the bill, and Reading started
the in-house conversion of 30 of these I10 locomotives to the new
class T-1 Northern.
The new T-1's
entered service between 1945 and 1947 and were used primarily
in fast freight service. Their operating territory included most
of the Reading system, and they were also used in pool service
with the Western Maryland Railway. The first 20 units were equipped
for freight service. The last 10 were equipped for passenger service,
but still primarily used for freight service.
The Reading
T-1's did not last long in service. All 30 were in storage by
1954, with a few returning briefly in 1955 due to a surge in traffic.
Most were sold or permanently retired and scrapped by 1958. The
Reading Railroad kept four of the T-1's for an excursion service
that they called the Iron Horse Rambles. The plans were for 2100
and 2124 to pull the excursion trains, and they would keep 2101
as a back-up and 2123 as a source of parts. 2123 was scrapped
in 1966, and 2124 was replaced by the recently purchased 2102
in 1962. The Iron Horse Ramble excursions last until 1964, and
the remaining locomotives were sold in 1965.
The four
T-1's used in the Iron Horse Rambles still survive today. 2101
was famously restored and used to pull the American Freedom Train
in the mid-1970's. It was then repainted into the Chessie System
livery in 1977 to pull the Chessie Steam Special, an excursion
train running to celebrate the 150th birthday of the B&O Railroad.
2102 ran various fan trips for several decades, and is currently
owned by the Reading Blue Mountain & Northern Railroad and
is occasionally brought outside for display. 2124 is currently
on display at Steamtown USA in Scranton, PA.
In 2023,
Broadway Limited is building our first production of Reading T-1
4-8-4 steam locomotives in N scale. We are building three in-service
Reading models and three "Iron Horse Ramble" models.
We are offering 2101 in the Chessie Steam Special livery and also
its later Reading & Northern paint scheme. We are offering
one model in the 1976 American Freedom Train paint, and one model
decorated like the Delaware & Hudson #302 locomotive. Finally,
we are offering two fantasy paint schemes: one with a unique Christmas
theme and a second with a United States Independence Day theme.
The Paragon4 version of the two fantasy models will have unique
soundsets, and the others will have prototypically accurate Reading
T1 Northern sounds. In addition to the Paragon4 Series models,
we are offering most of the models in our Stealth Series. The
Stealth Series models are No-Sound / DCC-Ready models that operate
on DC out of the box, or a modeler can easily install their DCC
decoder of choice. Out of the box, front and rear lights are directional,
and other lights are always ON with track power. Additionally
some lighting functions may be missing depending on selected aftermarket
decoder the modeler installs.
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