The American Freedom Train, featuring historical displays in honor of the bicentennial of the United States, toured many regions throughout the nation. Former Reading 4-8-4 No. 2101 was one of three steam locomotives chosen to power the popular special, which came through central Illinois in the summer of 1975. My brother David took this transparency at Parnell, Illinois on Illinois Central Gulf trackage on July 27, 1975. For a view of No. 2101 that I snapped in Peoria, found in our Steam Locomotive Archive, click here.

In 1979, after its service on the Chessie Steam Special, No. 2101 was severely damaged while being stored in a Chessie System roundhouse at Silver Grove, Kentucky. It was cosmetically restored, though inoperable, and is displayed at the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in Baltimore.