I first saw Reading T-1 4-8-4 #2100 leading an Iron Horse Ramble through my hometown of Collegeville, Pa. in the early 1960s. This is my next view of it, almost 45 years and nearly 3,000 miles removed from southeastern Pennsylvania.

The former RDG Northern was undergoing boiler repairs at the Coast Engine and Equipment Co. (CEECO) shops in Tacoma, Wash. Then owned by Golden Pacific, it was the centerpiece of an short-lived excursion train that ran along a section of the old Milwaukee Road south of Tacoma.

The line up Tacoma Hill, now operated by Tacoma Rail as part of its Mountain Division, includes a three precent grade that defeated the 2100's initial efforts to scale it. In its one season, the service consisted of the 2100, a leased former Amtrak F40PH, and a train of former Chicago METRA bilevel commuter cars.

The 2100 subsequently moved to Richland, Wash. on the Tri-Cities & Western. The cars were stored for a time on an industrial siding in Milwaukie, Ore., south of Portland.

Photographed by Thomas McCann, April 29, 2006.
Added to the photo archive by Thomas McCann, December 1, 2006.
Railroad: Reading.

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