Reading 902

Reading Company 902 is a preserved ex-Reading Company EMD FP7.^[1]

History

Reading 902 was one of the first six FP7s ordered by the railroad in March 1950 to replace passenger steam locomotives. It and sister Reading 903 were completed on June 1 of that year and delivered to the Reading via the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. The pair pulled their first train on June 6. In the following years, the two locomotives sometimes worked together, and sometimes were split, depending on the size of their trains.^[2]

SEPTA inherited the units in 1974, and they were renumbered by the new Consolidated Rail Corporation in 1976, the 902 becoming 4372. The locomotive was involved in a derailment in February 1978, and when it re-entered service in June, it had new SEPTA paint. During the SEPTA years, the FP7s usually operated in push-pull. SEPTA ceased all diesel-operations in 1981, and the locomotives were retired.^[2]

Locomotive 902 was eventually obtained by the Lancaster Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) and was stored at the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania along with its sister, the 903, which was owned by the Philadelphia Chapter of the NRHS. The two completed restoration in 1995.^[2]

In January 2007, the Lancaster Chapter donated the 902 to the Reading Company Technical and Historical Society. It and 903 operated an excursion on an ex-Reading line owned by Penn Eastern Rail Lines in October of that year,^[2] but no more trips are planned for 2008.^[3]

In January 2010, the 902 and 903 were loaned to Steamtown National Historic Site for a year to maintain the locomotives in exchange for excursion rights. As of 2014, both units are still at the park, but are out of service and on display.

References