Reading Glow-up Pack

History In 1921, the Western Maryland railroad ordered a brand new batch of 2-8-0 'Consolidations' from the Baldwin Locomotive Works, to pull heavy drag freights throughout the WM system. A neighboring competitor, the Philadelphia & Reading, known simply as the Reading Railroad, had taken notes on this successful design and quickly ordered their own heavy duty 2-8-0 locomotives from Baldwin, with a few modifications. The 61 inch driver diameter was increase to 61. 5 inches, and the locomotive was given a Wootten firebox, common on Reading's fleet, facilitating the burning of anthracite coal, which the railroad had plenty of. In 1923, Reading's fleet of 50 I-10sa locomotives were put to work on branchlines and occasional mainline service, hauling much more than previous I class 2-8-0s could, however they were quickly supplanted by 2-10-2 'Santa Fe' types in the late 20s, and were relegated to branchlines for the following years. During the Second World War, the P&R found themselves to be in a difficult position. While most other railroads had embraced newer wheel arrangements such as 4-8-4 'Northerns' and 4-6-6-4 'Challengers' years prior, their newest locomotives were a decade old, and were too weak to handle war time traffic. Worse yet, the War Production Board did not allow them to design a new locomotive from the ground up, though they did permit modifying existing designs. Reading's management decided the best course of action was to turn their aging I-10sa Consolidations into a modern 4-8-4, and would spend nearly 2 years rebuilding a fleet of 30. Many components from the 2-8-0s were reused, ranging from parts as large the boilers and fireboxes to ones as small as bells and whistles. The low drivers were kept in storage to be used on I-9sb locomotives, and several parts were made anew, like their 70 inch diameter driving wheels from Baldwin, frames from General Steel Castings, and roller bearings from Timken. The new 4-8-4s were classified as the T-1s, and were