May 14th, 2020 by WCBC Radio
Trains Magazine is reporting that the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad resumed work on steam engine 2-6-6-2 Number 1309 on Monday of this week.
Readers of the magazine donated more than $100,000 to the cause, and about $180,000 is still needed to complete the locomotive, which is the final steam locomotive that Baldwin built for use in the United States in 1949. Additional money will be needed to construct water, ocal and ash removal facilities.
So far, $2.8 million has been spent on the project, which was halted last August when funding dried up.
Steam has always been said to be key to maximizing ridership on the WMSR, which has been without a steam engine since Mountain Thunder had to be removed from service for a mandatory rebuild and inspection.
.jpg)
May 14, 2020 at 10:10 am, mac said:
Rather than buying the pig in a poke 1309 they should have spent the money to rebuild the original stem loco Mountain Thunder. The only consistency in this whole operation is the continuing need for more and more money.
No matter how far this gets or how long it takes there is always the need for more and more money.
Some will say that it has progressed so far that the rebuild should be completed but why continue to throw good money after bad?
Just say no more.
May 14, 2020 at 11:36 am, Mark said:
WMSR is and always has been a sick joke.
May 14, 2020 at 11:51 am, mac said:
If they had been obligated to make their own way from day one the entire operation would have folded years and years ago.
WMSR has gotten hooked on taking other people’s money and they are planning to continue.
The most absurd part of 1309 is that it is too large to use the turntable in Frostburg and will be required to back down the mountain on it’s return trip to Cumberland.
The whole operation is, as Mark says, a joke.
Welcome to Cumberland.