Reading T-1 No. 2102 is back in steam after 30+ years, with a test train of 50 empty hoppers, running between Reading and Jim Thorpe. The train is headed upgrade along the Reading's Little Schuylkill Branch. The Reading saved $75,000 on each T-1 by "kitbashing" them (with Baldwin's help) from drag-era 2-8-0s instead of buying new. That's $1,171,450 in today's money- quite a savings per engine. They also reused the I-10sa 2-8-0's 61-1/2" drivers to upgrade some older I-9sb 2-8-0s that had 55" drivers, in another frugal but prudent rebuild program. The Reading's shops in Reading were first-rate, without a doubt, and the 2102's current owners are carrying on the tradition.
A continuously growing album of photos that IMHO reveal the awesome and seldom-seen beauty of the railroad world from the dimming of day to dawn's early light! From dusk to dawn, trains roll on! (I'm still finding gems of sunset-to-sunrise surprises!)
