Broadway Limited Paragon4 HO 4-8-4 T1 Chessie System #2101 “Steam Special”

Description

Railroad Short Name: B&O

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 all 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.

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 did keep 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.

Features:

• ALL-NEW Paragon4 Sound & Control System
• Synchronized Puffing Smoke with Chuff Sound
• Variable Puffing Smoke Intensity and timing
• Integral DCC Decoder with Back EMF for Industry Best Slow Speed Operation in DC and DCC
• Precision Drive Mechanism engineered for continuous heavy load towing and smooth slow speed operation
• 5-Pole Can Motor with Skew Wound Armature
• ABS Plastic Boiler and Tender Body
• Heavy Die Cast Chassis for Increased Tractive Effort
• Premium Caliber Painting with Authentic Paint Scheme
• Prototypical Light Operation with Separately Controllable Headlight, Rear Light, and Firebox Flicker
• Factory-installed Engineer and Fireman Figures
• Prototypically Accurate Road Numbers for each Model
• Many Separately Applied Details such as Handrails, Ladders, Piping, Whistle, and Brass Bell
• Equipped with Rubber Traction Tires for Increased Pulling Power
• Recommended Minimum Radius: 18 inches
• Accurate Prototypical Sounds for Reading T-1 Northern

Paragon4 Sound & Control System Features:

• Operates in DC & DCC with improved DC speed control (use DCMaster for DC Sound)
• Built-In capacitor pack to navigate imperfect track
• Capacitor Pack automatically disabled on program track for full compatibility with JMRI Decoder Pro
• Pro Lighting Mode offers individual control of all lights on model
• Switcher Mode for precise low speed control.
• Record & Play Operation – Records and plays back sounds and movements once or repeatedly for automatic operation
• High Resolution Audio
• Quillable Whistle for various whistle lengths and patterns
• Choice of 3 selectable Horns
• Alternate Whistle / Horn where applicable for locomotive with air horn and steam whistle – both the main whistle and alternate can be easily played
• Adjustable bell ringing interval for faster or slower bell
• Numerous user-mappable functions with available keys
• Johnson Bar Sound at Direction Change
• Multiple realistic passenger and crew sounds play on command
• Grade Crossing Automatic Signal
• Automatic Forward / Reverse Signal – When activated, stopping triggers and stop whistle toot. When moving forward from a stopped position, toots twice. When moving in reverse. toots three times.
• Chuff sound intensity varies with load
• Individually adjustable sound volumes for each effect
• EZ Reset Button for quick return to factory default settings