Reading & Northern 2102: Hopper Test Freight to Jim Thorpe-April 26, 2022

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

Glorious! And with a caboose on the end, just like freight trains are supposed to have! Thanks East Penn, you made my day! And that was a FAST 25 minutes! Not a dull moment!

[@EastPennRailfanProductions]

Thank you for your support! Glad you enjoyed the video!

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

@@EastPennRailfanProductions You're very welcome, and I appreciate your efforts!

[@varrunningtrains4112]

What a beautiful beast! Great shots, especially that reversing action at Jim Thorpe. Can't wait to see what the Reading and Northern does with her, clearly they have no reservations giving 2102 a workout!

[@EastPennRailfanProductions]

Thank you Varun! I think they have a great show in store for us with the upcoming Rambles trips!

[@georgecarter838]

Love seeing the yellow trim on the hand rails and foot boards back again. Just as I remembered all those years ago...

[@BoxcarJerry]

Great job chasing the train , awesome to see her running with some coal hoppers. Thanks for taking us along.

[@JawTooth]

Awesome video! I can't wait to see her during the Iron Horse Rambles. That was awesome seeing her pull all those cars with a caboose on the rear!

[@EastPennRailfanProductions]

Thank you! Can't wait to see her during the Rambles either

[@atsfevan0242]

While the hoppers were indeed empty it was still impressive to see 2102 pull that long train. Sure can't wait for the first excursion next month and see her pull a full R&N passenger train for the first time since 1991!!!

[@KeystoneRailProductions]

Nice job Harry! 2102 looks amazing!

[@EastPennRailfanProductions]

Thank you Vince! Can't wait for the Rambles trips!

[@dcrpsecondary]

Once again 2102 put on a great show

[@ethanmorel2746]

The man at the throttle for this test run at 5:00 is Chairman, Owner, and CEO Andy Muller Jr. and he feels really happy to be back at it on this locomotive again as the runs are becoming such a success.

[@BeeLineEast]

What a locomotive the 2102' Thumbs up on your video. Great shots of the 2102. I checked the specifications on this locomotive and the Nickle Plate 765. I was kind of surprised the 2102 is a larger locomotive of the two.

[@fredwolf7515]

Wonderful ! I never thougt i'd see her under steam again in my lifetime she looks just as I remember. Kudos to all for your hard work. See ya trackside!

[@1940limited]

Fantastic! I was wondering if Andy would do something like this! The crowds this locomotive draws will be spectacular when the summer excursions begin. I'm sure it will handle the consist flawlessly.

[@daniellewilliams1459]

It was really cool seeing the 2102 in Tamaqua ❤and great video .

[@lackawannarailfan]

Nicely done video! Glad you got out to see it!

[@EastPennRailfanProductions]

Thank you Tyler! Hope to see more of it during the Rambles trips!

[@thompsonriverrailfan]

What an amazing video! I am Canadian, and we don’t get this type of steam action here, so this was a real treat! Thanks! - Lucas

[@ryguygaming06]

Funny to see the other driver responding to the whistle around 9:10

[@rearspeaker6364]

and he backs the train around the wye unassisted!!! that loco is ready!!

[@1940limited]

It pushes as well as it pulls!

[@trainknut]

2102 has now pulled more tonnage in 3 weeks since her first test than 1309 and 2926 have the past year combined.

[@1940limited]

The amount of steam locomotive restoration taking place in this country is wonderful news. According to the UP Steam Club, Union Pacific had donated 3985 and 5511, plus passenger equipment and the Centennial DD40X to non-profit Railroad Heritage of Mid America for a multi-million dollar restoration project aimed at returning them to the rails.

[@raysummers4284]

this was very soothing to watch, just loved it, good job

[@minorot]

She’s a beautiful example of the 4-8-4 type; love the sounds!

[@alexnorfolksouthernmedia]

Nice show of steam power! Keep 'em comin'! Cheers! -Alex

[@henryszubielski8601]

East Penn, Thanks for sharing this great video!

[@09JDCTrainMan]

I just realized the T-1 is actually pretty short for a modern steamer, she's only a bit taller than the hopper cars

[@willberestartingthischanne9984]

Nice Video

[@spproductions5103]

Mmm very good HARREAH

[@HarryWarren1223]

thank you DARB

[@georgepowers9213]

What a beautiful sight love listening to that beauty chugging awesome video thanks for sharing

[@SteamN_PowerProductions]

It's great to see a steam locomotive doing what it was built for!

[@Patric5590]

Awesome video 👍😎🇺🇸

[@thatconservativetrainguy3864]

I’d love to see her pulling fully loaded hoppers and working real hard

[@1940limited]

They did that in 1991. Maybe its assignments are a little easier these days.

[@JohnNyren65]

wow! fantastic video!

[@wolfzillaproductions4563]

Finally we get to see a Reading T1 running under its own power once again. If I didn’t know better, I’d say steam is making a comeback in recent years.

[@skythewolfgon5843]

She smokes like my Lionel o gauge Polar Express with JT Mega Steam

[@ollieb927]

I am from the UK and this is impressive. Beautiful loco. I guess those freight cars being pulled is part of an actual service and not just pulled for fun? If you understand my point. Is the loco on revenue earning.

[@wayneantoniazzi2706]

From what I gather from the description this was strictly a load-pulling test run. Whether they'll use 2102 on actual freight run remains to be seen. Since it's been 30 years since the engine's been run on a regular basis I'd guess they're still in the learning phase of what it can do.

[@mmi16]

Has the 2102 always had a 'footboard' configured front pilot?

[@1940limited]

Far as I know. You can look at historic pictures to verify that.

[@mikeggg5671]

Yes she has!

[@trime1851]

WOW!

[@matthewvogel3071]

The Beast of the Northeast

[@MarkInLA]

13:17 I think my guess was right ! It's a wye !! Wow a 1:1 scale MRR !! I'm sure many of you knew this..I knew nothing about the R&N til this vid ! Goes without saying, this loco ought to be put back in revenue service..It's cleaner than a diesel !

[@sorshiaemms5959]

awesome nice to see a big powerfull northern

[@tonyfrancesco3701]

Magnificent!!!!!!!

[@larryjohnson6385]

Awesome 😎

[@billyrueckert5113]

Awesome video! Are the turntables able to fit the 2102?

[@1940limited]

He has a wye in Jim Thorpe now. I think there's something in Lower Reading, too.

[@maxwellwalcher6420]

there's she is.

[@maxwellwalcher6420]

would number 425 carry passengers. and number 2102.

[@1940limited]

How does a railroad dispose of all the old ties along the right of way?

[@tropicalties3806]

Beating the crap out of 4014 😎😎

[@danielunger9340]

That's ma dream job ta operat n b a steam train engineer n have ma own passenger train service n freight service too

[@danielunger9340]

Out of curiosity which one has more pulling power steam train engine or diesel train engines?

[@mikeggg5671]

That is a loaded question among both railfans and railroaders alike. There is an old maxim: Steam engines can pull a train they can't start, while diesels can start a strain they can't pull. So diesels do have more initial tractive effort, overall power lies with steam (and if steam had the last 70 years of computer aided improvements like disels, they would be even more powerful. Remember that these beasts of iron and steel were designed by spectacled men on draft boards, not men on computers!)

[@markantony3875]

@@mikeggg5671 Nothing loaded about it. Your old maxim is out of date with current technology. While it was true with first generation diesel-electrics due to the limited current the DC traction motors could produce, technology improvements allowed the final DC traction motored locomotives to pull hard for extended periods before the motors would overheat. With induction frequency drive AC traction motors available for 30 years now, this is absolutely no longer true. AC induction motors can be taken down to a dead stall and kept there. If a modern AC diesel-electric can start the train, it will keep it moving regardless of the speed. A modern locomotive like the ES44AH can produce over 200,000 lbs tractive effort on an everyday basis. No steam engine can come close to that.

[@mikeggg5671]

@@markantony3875 Again - if steam had 80 years of computer aided R and D, it would. Thats the point. It took 50 years for diesels to be better than steam, and steam was designed with spectacles and drawing boards!

[@markantony3875]

@@mikeggg5671 Your statement "if steam had the last 70 years of computer aided improvements..." is also a fallacy. There are actual physical limits of the efficiency and power a steam locomotive can produce based on Thermodynamic Laws and the entropy of the steam cycle. No amount of computer aided engineering can get around the hard laws of thermodynamics.

[@markantony3875]

@@mikeggg5671 The steam engine was invented in 1698. It took 252 years to get the technology to where it was in 1950. Taking 50 years for diesel-electrics to be where they are now is actually pretty quick. Why? Because it is inherently a better technology in regard to overall thermodynamic efficiency and putting the power produced into useful work.

[@christopherdibble5872]

The engineers don't wave from the trains anymore, not like they did back in 1954.chris

[@oddjob1795]

I counted at least 50 hoppers, caboose included isn’t that too much a freshly rebuild steam engine to haul for a test like this.

[@1940limited]

Apparently not. I'm sure they know what they're doing at the BMR&N!

[@mikeggg5671]

Of course not, my boy! She was designed to do this. They are braking her in slow, of course, but this is what Reading steam does!

[@gregthoms5232]

They are empty. They simulate the load of a fully loaded passenger consist. They need to know it can handle that load. Which she does flawlessly.

[@matthewbailey1126]

For 50 hoppers the ole girl still doesn’t sound like she’s working all that hard. She could probably handle a 100 car loaded intermodal train on flat ground pretty easily

[@larrycurran8036]

😺

[@mrshea924]

Twenty-One "O" Two

[@moosiem60]

Thanks east penn 2102 out pulls 4014- 844 and 1309 with no help.

[@ronnie2992]

ᑭᖇOᗰOᔕᗰ 😉

[@makwanamanjibhai-rh6cb]

O Hl