May 15th, 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, coal 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. Railroad General Manager John Garner…
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May 15, 2020 at 8:01 am, jim said:
So about $3million spent on a train with no functional purpose. A fiscal decision that belongs in Allegany County.
May 15, 2020 at 9:24 am, mac said:
Yes, Mountain Thunder needed a rebuild and inspection but it should be obvious by now that old 1309 needed every bit as much work and will still need to be inspected.
WMSR seems to be excited to have the largest locomotive out there. They will do whatever is necessary and take everyone’s money in order to say that their engine is bigger.
If and when they finish old 1309 the begging for money will begin again to rebuild Mountain Thunder.
May 15, 2020 at 2:54 pm, Paolo Primavera said:
Yes we are so lucky to have both of these BIG OLD MoneyPits to invest our taxpayers money in for the future. SURPRISE- There’s No Future in STEAM, we have Nuclear Now and are advancing into the ANTIGRAVITY STEM PROGRAM. PRAY WITH AND FOR US.
May 16, 2020 at 1:29 am, Eric said:
I like classic steam engines and would like to see it back in service again, but the government could have built one from scratch faster than this is taking. And even with their cost overruns, they could have done it for a lot less than $3 mil. Seems to me that there are one or more players here that are milking a little extra from the cash cow.