By M.T. Burkhart
In early January, a pair of historic Reading Company cab locomotives were moved from their long-time home at Steamtown National Historic Site bound for SMS Rail Lines in southern New Jersey.
Picked up by Delaware-Lackawanna Railroad, they were ferried to nearby Taylor Yard where Norfolk Southern took over with a special, dedicated move. They were expected to travel to the SMS shops in Pureland, N.J., for work before entering service on the Woodstown Central Railroad tourist operation, which runs on county-owned tracks between Swedesboro and Salem, NJ.
SMS was approached by the Reading Company Technical & Historical Society (RCT&HS) about leasing former Reading FP7s 902 and 903. Stored for more than a decade in Scranton, Pa. they have not run in excursion service in years. FP7 902 (which will be leased by SMS) is owned by the RCT&HS and 903 has been purchased outright from the Philadelphia Chapter of the NRHS.
Part of a group of six FP7s built for the Reading in 1950, they migrated to SEPTA commuter service in 1974 before eventually coming to the Lancaster Chapter NRHS (and later acquired by RCT&HS) and Philly Chapter. Restored to Reading colors, they ran regularly in the mid-1990s on the Delaware Valley Railway over the old Wilmington & Northern branch. They only ran a handful of trips while at Steamtown but were featured in several night photo sessions.
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