Broadway Limited Imports HO 4461 Reading T1 4-8-4 Steam Locomotive, Reading Railroad (In Service Version) #2108 (Equipped with Paragon3 Sound/DC/DCC with Rolling Thunder)

As World War II 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 the wartime restrictions still in place the Reading had to look to their existing fleet for conversion.

The I-10sa 2-10-0 locomotive fit the bill. So the Reading started the in-house conversion of 30 of these locomotives to a new class and the Super-Power T1 4-8-4 was born. The Reading shops started delivering the T1 in the late summer of 1945, ending deliveries in 1947. In freight service, the T1's made the Reading proud as they comprised the "Fast Freight" position that the railroad needed to meet the increased post war demands that now faced the entire nation.

However, with a slowdown in traffic and the acquirement of new diesel road switchers, the T1's found themselves in storage in 1954/55. In 1956, the T1 fleet was put to work again. A few made it back to the mainline, but most were assigned to the coal region. Seven were leased to the neighboring Pennsylvania Railroad for several months.

The T1 found new life in excursion service for a time. Number 2101 was available and went through some detail changes. A very striking paint scheme was used to pull the patriotic "American Freedom Train". She then went through another repaint and pulled the "Chessie Steam Special" for two seasons in 1977 and 1978. Now she sits on display at the B&O Museum in Baltimore, Maryland.

The Reading 2100 is currently running excursions for the Golden Pacific Railroad in Tualatin, Oregon. The Reading T1 and her related versions uniquely saw duty well beyond her geographical boundaries and time era. For this reason, she'll be right at home on a great number of layouts.

Die Cast Boiler with Heavy Die Cast Chassis for max. tractive effort
Features Paragon3 with ROLLING THUNDER SOUND and Control System (ROLLING THUNDER transmitter onboard)
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
Powerful Can Motor
Synchronized PUFFING SMOKE with Chuff Sound
Variable Puffing Smoke Intensity and timing
Premium Caliber Painting with Authentic Paint Schemes
Prototypical Light Operation with Golden White LED Headlight, Rear Light
Flickering Firebox Glow
Operating Metal Knuckle Couplers
Factory Installed Engineer and Fireman Figures
Separately Applied Handrails, Ladders, Whistle, and Brass Bell
Near-Brass Caliber Detail at a Die Cast price
Will operate on Code 70, 83 and 100 rail
Minimum radius: 22" radius or greater recommended.

Operates in DC and DCC (use DCMaster for DC sound)
2 Selectable Bells
3 playable whistles with variable endings
1 long, non-looped whistle
1 alternate whistle for locomotives with a second horn
Quill whistle with Digitrax DT400 or NCE Pro Cab throttle
4 Times Expanded Autopilot storage
Expanded Startup and Shutdown sequences
Smoke Temperature safety cutoff sensor
2 Watt Audio output
90 db signal to noise ratio
16 bit audio resolution
24 sounds with separate volume control
Unmatched frequency response as low as 20 Hz when paired with ROLLING THUNDER subwoofer kit
8 simultaneously playable audio channels
Functional Dynamic Brake with Grid Blower sounds
Improved motor control in DC and DCC
Motor short circuit protection
Outputs for headlights, MARS lights, automatic cab light, rear lights, marker lights, ditch lights, firebox light, running board lights, number board lights and a few spares.
Works with NMRA standard DCC controllers
Automatic Dual Mode: Works with DC power packs or DCC