Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad 2102 (historically known as Reading 2102) is a preserved "T-1" 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive. Originally built by Baldwin in 1925 as an "I-10sa" 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type locomotive for the Reading Company, No. 2102 was rebuilt by the Reading's own locomotive Shops as a 4-8-4 "Northern" in 1945, and it was used for pulling heavy coal trains for the railroad until being retired from revenue service in 1956. Between 1962 and 1964, No. 2102 was used to pull the famous Iron Horse Rambles excursion trains. After the Rambles ended in 1964, No. 2102 was sold to Steam Tours Inc. of Akron, Ohio to spend the next 23 years pulling various fan trips in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and Midwest. In 1985, it was sold again to Andy Muller to operate on his Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad alongside 4-6-2 "Pacific" No. 425, until its flue ticket expired in 1991. Beginning in February 2016, the locomotive was restored to operating condition and returned to service in April 2022.
History
Revenue service and first retirement
By the end of the 1920s, the Philadelphia and Reading Company had approximately 1,015 class "I" 2-8-0 "Consolidation" types constructed by the Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as well as the Reading's own locomotive shops in Reading. One of those classes of 2-8-0s was the I-10sa class, and No. 2102 was one of the first I-10sa locomotives built in 1923, being numbered 2044 at the time. No. 2044 was solely used for heavy freight service on the Reading's Branch lines, and sometimes, on the Main line. When the Reading needed more heavier and powerful locomotives during the end of World War II, they brought thirty of their Consolidations Nos 2020–2049, including No. 2044, into its locomotive shops in Reading. There, No. 2044 was heavily rebuilt into a 4-8-4 "Northern", and was reclassified as a T-1, being renumbered to 2102. Its four-axle tender was replaced with a larger six-axle tender, its boiler was extended, its driving wheel diameter was increased, it received two extra pilot wheels, and it received four trailing wheels to support its enlarged firebox. No. 2102 was reassigned for mainline freight service only, just as the rest of its rebuilt sister locomotives were.
As the Reading discontinued steam operations in 1956, No. 2102 was retired from revenue service, and shortly afterward, it was sold to Carpenter Steel Corporation for use to provide steam for its plant.
First restoration and excursion service
In the Fall of 1960, the Carpenter Steel plant suffered a catastrophic fire, badly damaging No. 2102's steam generator. After that, No. 2102 was sold back to the Reading Company, which one year prior had decided to spare a few of its T-1s from the scrapper's torch for use on their final excursion fan trips between Wayne Junction in Philadelphia and Shamokin, known as the "Iron Horse Rambles". After its extensive overhaul was completed on April 29, 1962, No. 2102 would join fellow T-1 No. 2100 and replace No. 2124, which was sold to Steamtown, U.S.A. after breaking-down. It would also perform doubleheaders with No. 2100. In 1964, the Rambles were put to an end, and by January 31, 1965, the last remaining T-1s were sold separately, and No. 2102 was sold off to Steam Tours, Inc., based in Akron, Ohio and led by Bill Benson. Beginning in 1966, No. 2102 would operate in the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest areas of the country. Its main storage site under Steam Tours' ownership would be at Milwaukee Junction in Detroit, Michigan, which was the same location where Grand Trunk Western USRA 4-6-2 “Pacific” No. 5629 was occasionally stored. In 1968, though, No. 2102 ran an excursion on Grand Trunk Western trackage when a minor derailment damaged its Hennesey oil lubricators on the second driving axle, and the lubricator was subsequently converted to a grease block. The locomotive sat idle for the next three years.
In April 1971, No. 2102 was brought back out of storage for use on an inaugural run along the Greenbrier River from Ronceverte to Cass, West Virginia, as a novel way of letting tourists connect to the remote Cass Scenic Railroad. In 1972, Ross Rowland's High Iron Company (HICO) sponsored several excursions from Reading to Harrisburg on the Reading's mainline to recreate the Iron Horse Rambles, and No. 2102 was loaned to HICO to be used to pull the trains.