RDG Steam | Modeling the Reading in Proto48

The Strasburg O Scale Train Show was today. In past years, the August show was often the lightest attended of the three shows that John Dunn and Rich Yoder host each year. Not so this year. It was well attended and buying and selling was at a good pace throughout the show.

They had on display a model that will be auctioned off at the next Strasburg Show, on October 16th 2021. The proceeds will benefit the Strasburg Fire Company where the show is hosted. We should all remember that they have had a rough year with the pandemic canceling the different shows and events that they normally host throughout the year.

This will be a great opportunity to buy a very nice model and help a great organization. The model is built from a kit offered by Wit and Wisdom Models, Dave Vaughn’s company and built by Martin Brechbiel.

On the model front, there were a number of Reading models on the tables, I saw two Weaver Crusader sets with the locomotive on different tables. I also saw the SGL G-3 Pacific and set of five cars. Another dealer had the two car add-on set on their table, while a different vendor had the “Wall Street” add-on car.

As usual I shared a table with my friend Michael Rahilly. Here is a photo of Michael and his daughter Lauren.

One of the things I often hear at train shows is that people attend them now more to catch up with old friends then to buy a bunch of trains. I heard this from more than one attendee today. I was glad to have some time to catch up with a few of the guys that were in the local club back during my time there.

Michael MacEwan, who didn’t have a table at this show, but was hanging out at our table with Michael. As always the conversation always circled back to talking about PRR B6sb’s.

Another former club member was Dave Richter sitting at the end of his tables.

Here at the end of the show was Dave Vaughn talking with Rick Trinkle who was in from Colorado.

One last old fried was also on two different tables at the show. This was a book my brother and I put out back in the late 1980’s. It was a reprint of a Reading Company photo book on the Reading and CNJ 55 Ton Welded Steel hopper Cars.

The story of the Reading K1 2-10-2 is told very well in a 16 page article in the May/June 1981 issue of Mainline Modeler by Bert Pennypacker “Reading 2-10-2 It should have been a Texas” I do not plan to go into all the details the article did, instead I’ll go over the highlights. There is an HO scale drawing of the K1sd in the center spread of the magazine.

The Reading 3000-series K1 started as a rebuilding program in 1927 with parts supplied by Baldwin. The first 11 locomotives were rebuilt in the Reading Shops from N1’s 2-8-8-2 which were built between 1917-1919. An additional ten locomotives (3011-3020) were built by Baldwin. The 3000-3009 were classed K1-sa, 3010 was classed K1-sc, and the 3011-3020 were classed K1-sb.

The 3010 was classed K1-sc because it was built with Caprotti valve gear. This proved to be troublesome to operate and costly to maintain. In 1942 it was replaced with the same Walscheart valve gear the others locomotives had and the 3010 was re-classed as K1-sa.

In 1945 while the Reading shops were busy building the T1 4-8-4’s the K1received some modernization changes including dynamically cross-balanced Baldwin disc main driving wheels, tapered main rods and high speed drifting valves. These changes where made to increase the K1’s potential speed from 50 to 60 m.p.h. making them similar to the new T-1’s. The locomotives were re-classed from K1-sa/b to K1-sd/e.

By 1948, the diesels arriving on the railroad started to bump the K1’s from their normal routes. They started to be reassigned into the coal regions and on the Shamokin Division.

The class survived intact until the first end of steam on the Reading in the beginning of 1954. The rebuilt K1’s were first to be retired in May of 1954. Followed by the Baldwin built locomotives in March of 1955. There were No survivors from the scrappers torch.

References:

Mainline Modeler, May/June 1981 – “Reading 2-10-2 It should have been a Texas” by Bert Pennypacker

Reading Steam Pictorial

Photograph’s from George Losse Collection scanned from original negatives.

Modeling the Reading in Proto48

Modeling the Reading in the Summer of '52

Tag Archives: RDG Steam

2021 Strasburg O Scale Show – August

Reading K1’s 2-10-2