Well, since it is near Easter, the old saying “don’t count your eggs until they are hatched” was running through my mind as a I reading some of the latest news on the American Steam Railroad and their lawsuit issues with Midwest Railway Preservation Society, Inc. Only, I will change that saying to “don’t count your T-1s until they are steaming.”

Looks like the ASR is getting the boot from their spot in the Cleveland roundhouse; and with that comes the questions about the fate of 2100 yet again. This seems to be a hot button topic on other forums, so I’ll just leave the links here and let those who are curious do their own research on the “who, what, why, where, and when” of the ASR and its legal woes.

Eviction Lawsuit Filed Against American Steam Railroad - Train Orders
Eviction Lawsuit Filed Against American Steam Railroad - RPN

For now, I wouldn’t hold my breath that we’ll see the 2100 under steam in 2017. A much better bet would be on the gang at the BM&R and their efforts to restore the 2102. Strasburg completed fifty new superheater units for the locomotive at the end of last month.

It will be interesting to see where the 2100 winds up and how the restoration will progress.
Thanks, Mark

Wow, it’s hard to believe that over a year has passed since I posted the information above; how time flies!

Anyways, it looks like progress on 2100 is back on track:
http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2018/05/10-restoring-reading-t1-2100

And here someone had asked a question on another forum about ARS’s fund raising efforts and got this reply with more details about the restoration:

“Greetings,

Thank you for your compliments and encouragement to all of us here at ASR with regard to the restoration of 2100, it is truly appreciated.

To answer your questions, of the $100,840.69 we generated in revenue in 2017, $76,754.20 was in the sale of items (our excursion, web site, equipment, train show, & open house items offered), and $24,086.49 was in direct donations (both personal & from businesses). We did not receive any grant funding in 2017.

While we did have a calculated dollar amount for the firebox & combustion chamber work to be completed, shortly before recording we were notified by our boiler contractor that switching from threaded to welded staybolts should be reviewed, and that we needed to perform a lift of the 2100 to remove the #4 driver spring rigging to gain access to 16 of the combustion chamber sleeves that need replaced, as there is not enough room to be able to get the torch and welder in there properly to perform the work. Since both items were going to adjust the dollar amount we had already calculated, and especially not knowing what the lift was going to potentially cost at all, we decided to not include a dollar amount at the time of recording. We have since received pricing for the welded staybolt type (both for the staybolts & professional services to do the welding) as well as the lift needed, and will be posting that in our June video update.

Again, thank you for your interest and encouraging words to all of us here at ASR.

Best Regards, ASR”

Sounds very encouraging and it’s good to see that the ASR guys are getting help from the other T1 owners. Will we see a double headed T1 excursion on the RBMN someday?

Thanks, Mark