Track Department Replacing the Wooden Railroad Ties (Photos)

These pictures are taken in front of the station of the WMSR Track Department replacing the wooden railroad ties under the crossover switches.  Railroad ties need to be replaced every 30-40 years and that is what happened here.  Safety is of the utmost importance and therefore, in order to ensure that WMSR passengers are safe in their coaches, we replaced the railroad ties this week.

In order to remove the 22 foot to 28 foot long railroad ties, the rail needed to be lifted and removed as the concrete platform is on both sides of the tracks.    This is a tremendous job as WMSR does not have the modern tools to replace railroad ties.  WMSR is a heritage railroad and although we do use some modern techniques, our track department relies the heritage human factor of performing track work by hand.

Josh Nixon, operator of the tie handler, Track Foreman

Steve Cooper, Trackman, Level 1

Nate Bundy, Trackman, Level 1

Bobby Bittinger, Trackman, Level 1

This project took 5 days to complete, Monday through Friday. 

Western Maryland Scenic says funding delays will delay C&O 1309 restoration

 By Chase Gunnoe | April 26, 2017; Posted by Trains Magazine

CUMBERLAND, Md. — Chesapeake & Ohio 2-6-6-2 No. 1309 is going to be late for its own debut. Railroad officials say funding issues mean the locomotive will not make a July 1 appearance under its own power as announced in January.

John Garner, the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad's superintendent tells Trains News Wire that while the railroad has spent $800,000 of its own money to push forward restoration of the giant articulated locomotive, reimbursements from the State of Maryland have been slow in coming.

Garner says that railroad workers and its contractor, Diversified Rail Services, stopped all restoration work in early March due to the funding setback. The railroad has also had to furlough workers due to a shortage in cash flow.

In 2016, the Maryland governor’s office set aside $400,000 in a matching grant to aid in the restoration of No. 1309. Garner says that the grant program is designed to contribute to the locomotive's restoration, but the railroad is required to match the state's financial contribution and must first spend its own capital dollars before an approved reimbursement can be processed by the state. Garner says that raising $400,000 for a single project, while also trying to run the railroad has made it difficult for officials to maintain steady cash flow for the railroad. He says state officials are working to make railroad vendors approved state contractors and to also approve vendors' invoices.

“It’s all up to the state now, if [the state] cuts a check loose tomorrow, we go back to work,” says Garner.

He declined to predict when the locomotive’s restoration would continue or a project when it may make its first run.

Garner did say that once the next grant reimbursement arrives, contractors have about eight weeks of restoration work remaining before the locomotive is ready to go. Remaining projects include preparations for a hydrostatic test for the boiler followed by reassembly work if the test shows the locomotive will safely hold steam and water under pressure.

In January, the railroad set July 1 as the inaugural weekend for No. 1309’s trip into Cumberland and Frostburg, Md., and began selling tickets for a series of July 4 weekend excursions.

Due to the uncertainties in when the state may send additional money, the railroad has started processing refunds and re-bookings for the July 4th weekend excursions. Garner says that many international visitors are unable to adjust their travel plans to re-accommodate No. 1309’s setback. The railroad is offering $10 vouchers that can be applied to train rides, gift shop purchases, and or on-board services.

New (to us) Budd RDC Cars (Photos)

Gary Bensman sent these pix of our Budd cars in the TVRM shop being prepped for shipment to us.

No. 22 is one of the former B&O cars they had in service on TVRM until very recently. The other car (with a little purple paint) is a former Boston & Maine car that mostly will be for parts--although we may someday put it back into service or sell it off. It is not necessarily a keeper.

We hope to have the two B&O cars ready to use as coaches within a month or so of their arrival, and to have at least one of them back together as a self-propelled passenger car by Fall, when it would come in very handy for all sorts of service.

Each car has 88 equivalent walkover seats, all with good views. There are two restrooms per car and vestibules on both ends.

We look forward to these cars being part of our 50 Year Fleet, and to being versatile, useful, durable workhorse coaches. I am certain there will be a learning curve, and we will have all sorts of issues to deal with (they are complex cars with lots of moving parts). But they are unique and interesting mid-1950s cars. I think they will be an excellent addition to the railroad.

WMSR Ridgeley Shop Tours (Photos)

On Saturday, May 6, join WMSR’s CEO John Garner and Curator John Hankey for a one hour in depth tour of the Ridgeley Shop and 1309 restoration. Tours are a 9 AM and 4 PM, and last a total of 1 ½ hours. Capacity is limited to 40 participants for each tour.

Participants will board a special one-car shuttle train at the Western Maryland Station in Cumberland for the short ride across the Potomac River to Ridgeley. Upon detraining, the tour will visit the main shop where the 1309 will be available for inspection. Participants will also visit the “New Shop” to see other restoration efforts, and will tour the site and see other WMSR equipment and projects.

The cost of the tour is $35, and all proceeds go directly to the 1309 restoration project. Participants must be at least 14 years old and able to negotiate uneven ground and a working railroad shop. Sturdy footwear, long pants, and glasses/safety glasses are required.

Garner and Hankey will describe how the 1309 came to the Western Maryland, explain the restoration process, and outline plans for its future operation. They will answer any questions you may have.

At the tour conclusion, participants will reboard a train for the return trip to Cumberland Station. There will be ample time if participants wish to ride either the 11:30 AM Cumberland Crescent or the 6:00 PM Evening Paradise Dinner Train.

This will be a very special opportunity to see a large steam locomotive in the process of restoration in a classic, mid-20^th Century locomotive shop.

Constitution Park B&O Caboose Relocated To WMSR (Video Link)

https://vimeo.com/195355228

WM Diesels 7436 and 7471 Move to Georges Creek Railway (Photos)

At 12:43 PM on Wednesday, April 5, former Western Maryland Railway SD-35 locomotive 7436 and former WM SD-40 locomotive 7471 cleared Baltimore Street westbound in downtown Cumberland for the journey to the interchange with the Georges Creek Railway, roughly 20 miles up the Potomac Valley. They were dead in tow as part of a four-unit locomotive consist.

The Electro Motive Division of General Motors built WM 7436 as a SD-35 in 1964, and WM 7471 as an SD-40 two years later. Both are rare and classic early 2nd Generation High-Horsepower locomotives.

This was not a historic movement.

It was the kind of everyday movement of equipment between one railroad and another that otherwise would not warrant a yawn. Except that in this case, a pair of exquisitely painted former WM units were coupled behind a pair of CSX SD-70MACs built by EMD in the early 1990s—three decades after the WM units.

Same builder, same series, same factory—only the technology inside the SD-70MACs is utterly different from that inside the SD-35 and SD-40. The WM units even looked small behind the much more massive SD-70MACs. To the untrained eye, it would have seemed like nothing out of the ordinary.

Of course, General Motors sold off EMD years ago. Tthe LaGrange locomotive plant has been sold and razed, and the MACs themselves are nearing the end of their economic lives. This was an ironic—and, iconic—pairing of locomotives.

The SD-70MACs were at the head of what is essentially a local train west from Cumberland, working blocks of cars to places like Luke (the interchange with the Georges Creek Railway), Grafton, and the former Ohio River line of the B&O. There isn’t much intermediate business—but it is still an important region for industrial and chemical traffic.

Luke/Westernport (on the former B&O and WM main lines in the Potomac River Valley west of Cumberland) is the site of the massive former West Virginia Pulp & Paper paper mill complex, now Verso Corporation. Georges Creek Railroad provides switching services between Verso’s primary plant and a warehouse/production complex a few miles away along the former Western Maryland Railway main line.

WMSR painted the Western Maryland locomotives for the Georges Creek Railway, and is delighted that these classic 1960s engines are once again on home rails. For a few minutes on a glorious Spring day, there were again Western Maryland big diesels out on the main line at track speed. To say the least, it was an interesting locomotive consist.

Doing the Bunny Hop! (Photos)

For the second year in a row, WMSR ran Easter-themed Bunny Hop trains. On April 1 and 2, almost 600 people rode four WMSR special trains to the intermediate stop at Mountain View (“Lap” on the old Western Maryland Railway), where there seemed to be a great many colored eggs scattered about. No one knows how they got there, but there are the usual suspects.

The train consist was the same train we use for most runs to Frostburg—Pantry Car 107, Kitchen Car 855, Table Car 150, Table/Lounge Car 200, Snack Bar/coach 112, Coach 110, and Coach 880. While we didn’t need the First Class cars, it was far easier to keep the train intact and simply sell seats in the coaches. The Snack Bar did a healthy business.

Each day, we operated with two locomotives—one on either end, so that at Mountain View Engineers Mike McMarlin and Jim Howard simply “change ends.” They moved from the engine pulling the train uphill to the engine on the other end of the train that would run the train downhill.

WMSR’s Human Resources Manager Dianna Howard did a splendid job as the Easter Bunny. Brakeman Megan Machin was Cinder Bear, a character who has delighted children for many years on WMSR. It was fun watching children puzzle out what to make of a large white bunny and a friendly bear in railroad overalls and striped hat.

The pictures tell the rest of the story. We had a couple of enjoyable days out on the railroad, and showed a whole lot of folks a very good time.