America 2100

Reading 2100 is a T-1 class 4-8-4 "Northern" type steam locomotive, originally built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works (BLW) in May 1923 as an I-10sa class 2-8-0 "Consolidation" type locomotive for the Reading Company (RDG), No. 2100 was rebuilt by RDG's own locomotive shops as a 4-8-4 "Northern" in September 1945, No. 2100 pulled heavy freight and coal trains for the Reading until being retired from revenue service in 1956. Between 1961 and 1964, No. 2100 was used to pull the RDG's Iron Horse Rambles excursions alongside fellow T-1s Nos. 2124 and 2102. After the rambles ended, No. 2100 was sold along with No. 2101 in 1967 to a scrapyard in Baltimore, Maryland. No. 2100 subsequently went through multiple ownership changes and spent more time in storage or being moved than it did operating under its own power. In 1998, it was sold to Thomas Payne, who moved it to St. Thomas, Ontario in Canada and modified it to burn oil. It eventually made its way to the Golden Pacific Railroad in Tacoma, Washington to pull tourist trains for one year, before it sat idle in Richland. In 2015, the American Steam Railroad Preservation Association (ASR) began a long-term lease on No. 2100 and moved it to the Ex-Baltimore and Ohio roundhouse in Cleveland, Ohio. In 2023, ASR announced that No. 2100 would debut as American Freedom Train No. 250, painting it almost identically to how No. 2101 appeared on the American Freedom Train. No. 2100 made its public debut under steam on June 27, 2026, with full restoration still ongoing.