Riding Behind the Awesome Steam Locomotive 1309 

GREAT VIDEO DAVE, you sure covered the beast well. And caught lots of whistle action. Appreciate the shout and very great full for the invite. That was an awesome day.. one we'll always remember. 👍

Awesome video. Love the steam locomotives. Grandfather retired from the former Reading R.R. in 1965. He put 50 years of service with the Reading.started as a Call boy. He said when they got rid of the steam locomotives that was the end of true railroading.Nice scenic video.

PS . I do hope preservation and local governments realize you must be involved in a teacher / preservationists of this . Your the man Dave ! Thanks for the amazing effort

It’s been years since I’ve experienced the mighty power of a steam engine! Oh that soot from the coal on your shorts brought back a fond memory for me! A night time ride would of been spectacular seeing some of the glowing ash coming out of the stack! Thank you so much for sharing the ride Dave… much appreciated!

That's a 2-6-6-2 wheel arrangement. 4 steam pistons driving 12 drive wheels. Good for pulling heavy weight like you said.

Beautiful engine, thank you for sharing Dave. Coal smoke, whistle moan, and stack talk. This ride has it all. Love that they have not converted this loco to oil burning. Coal is gods gift of fuel to mankind

You Sir are a blessed man! Thanks for the ride along. BEAUTIFUL

1309 is awesome very glad to see your having fun and a great way to do it great video thanks thanks Dave and wife

Great video Dave! I have never seen video from a steam train in a tunnel before! All of that soot on you must make you feel like your really a part of the action! Really cool train action Dave, thanks for sharing! 😊

What a locomotive! The amount of engineering that went into it is incredible..with no computers helping! You're sure finding some beautiful scenery to share with us. Thanks for another great video Dave!👍👍

Dave, hello to you and your wife. Thanks for the AWESOME, AWESOME ride on 1309! Your enthusiasm is fantastic! Take care and keep bringing us these wonderful videos!

That's a beautiful engine!!

Thanks for posting the video of this awesome machinery! And that goes double and triple for the great people who breathe life into this mighty engine.

Sure the biggest locomotive I have ever seen! Loved the scenery. That whistle sometimes sounds like a cow moose in labor!!! Enjoyed.

Thanks Dave!

Your nature and attitude are the best ever ! Amazing solo videographer abilities too

Dave you too are well known and the stories and pictures you show and the train you keep moving.😊

Thanks for this delightful video. Kind of like a time machine, taking one back a century or two. That locomotive was made the year I was born. Millions of years ago tectonic plates collided, crinkled and crumpled - and so those mountains.

I never seen ashes like that😮thank you Dave

Really love the sound of that whistle...and really enjoyed your last few travel videos Thanks Dave! 👍👍👍👍👍

I got to enjoy the ride and NO CINDERS IN MY LAP. Thank you.

What a fantastic video. I guess the trip was wonderful. Nothing better than a good old steam engine. 😊

Another excellent video. Thank you my friend.

what an awesome looking piece of machinery

A really impressive piece of equipment! Thanks for pointing out the articulation pin.

Thank you so much. It were interesting to see how the stoker was attached.

Dave you are one of the best ambassadors for the love of railroading...a pure rail fan. Long life and health to you and the missus!

The H-6 class were built for mine run service in the coalfields. The 1309 and her sisters spent their brief lives working the coalfields around Logan W Va. The 2-6-6-2 wheel arrangement was ideal for the lighter rail and sharper curves on most mine runs. C &O's H classes were the backbone of the coal branches.

Thanks for another video

Nothing beats a steam whistle!

Wonderful video about the scenery along on your trip and the whistle blowing

What a beautiful piece of machinery! Gonna have to add this to my bucket list!

Thank Dave for taking us along It all way good to see the old locomotives run. I was very young when I saw the only steam engine run. I can just can remember it. Later I found out it was on the L&N line. Thanks again Dave for a great video!

What a great ride. Your camera picked up all the cinders falling. I loved the tunnel.

That's one big steam locomotive Dave! Awesome ride! Just show @TriGogglin a caboose he would be in heaven. 😥

I never rode behind a steam locomotive, except at Disneyland, but that doesn't count. I did see plenty of them in the early 1950's in Cleveland, on the Erie, Pennsylvania and New York Central railroads. It was near the end of the steam era, and diesels were quickly taking over. Thanks for the adventure. Jon, on the U.P., Pacific Coast Line. Santa Barbara Sub, M.P. 404.5

That is pretty cool and totally awesome Dave... jus like being a kid again! DD. 😜🤗

Awesome whistle. How would you like to hear that echo off the mountains on a warm summer evening. Thanks for sharing.

Good night my friend!❤

You lucky guy Dave what a way to spend a day.

Great video and what a locomotive !! Thanks for sharing .

I see that you got your free souvenir, great run👍 thanks for the video Dave 👍 🚂 Keep them coming

You blessed man, the first and last steamer I was able to ride behind was old No.6 a 2-6-0 with 50 inch drivers on the East Jordan & Southern R.R. I was 4 years old.

Great ride Dave! Your excitement gets me excited, and the whistle puts a big smile on my face. I`m so jealous, lol. Thank you for making these videos.

Fantastic with special guests👍 🚂she a puller!🚃🚃🚃🚃🙋

That was super sweet Dave, cool seeing Pappy in here too! Nice stuff!

Thats a lot of weight so amazing thank you.

A-MAZ-ING, Dave! Such a handsome engine AND that hooter whistle! That'll give a steam lover some chills...the good kind. I love the contrasting colors on the tender. That Western Maryland Fireball scheme is SOOO much better in color! The old B&W photos from back-in-the-day just don't do that paint scheme justice. Now, how about those cinders!? That was impressive....that you actually caught the cinders mid-air just raining back down to earth. If you look at old pictures from when steam was running every day, some good examples are from Norfolk & Western's Blue Ridge grade and near the Hermosa Tunnels on UP's Sherman Hill grade, you can actually see cinders so deep next to the right-of-way that it looks like black/grey snow! Even 70+ years later, like on the Rio Grande's Tennessee Pass line, cinders are just a part of the ground composition for 30+ feet on either side of the track. That tunnel shot was the ultimate, Dave! I'm glad you kept shooting all the way through. To see the exhaust and the steam curling all the way down to the floor and back into the train was the coolest (warmest 😉) thing! I must someday stand inside that tunnel as the train blasts through. Just imagine the exhaust blasts out of the stacks of double-headed WM I-2 Decapods as they pulled for all their worth through that tunnel! Thanks, Dave! Another great railroadin' adventure for us all to enjoy. 👍👍

They got a good clean fire! Good fireman

This just an awesome experience. We rode in a climate controled car(mainly due to the fact that I had lung issues ). Even the women enjoyed it, making plans to make the trip again. Going up the grade out of Cumberland, I looked towards the rear, looked like the diesel was working hard. I thought the 1309 would be able to pull the grade with no problem. Encourage all to make this trip.

Hi Dave, I half expected to see you standing on the footplate with a coal shovel in your hand! Great video, stay safe!

Awesome video Dave!

I would love to see that big ole beast !!!

Awesome! Thanks for all the up close engine shots. It's nice to be able to see all the different parts up close.

Remarkable that they were still building steam engines in 1949!

Thank you for posting

Looks like a fun ride ... and now you gotta be ready for the laundry and a shower 😂😂😂. That's on my bucket list !!! 🚂

My old stomping grounds...I was raised in Frostburg. The tracks go right beside my brothers house.

This is only a fraction of the great time I know you guys had on this trip ! Nice to see Pappy with you as well. Cumberland is my dad's home town; I miss going there. Hope I can take ride soon! Thanks for sharing your trip!

I believe that the mallet 2662 vs 4884 big boy will be able to run on the tight curves of the north east along with clearance for the tunnels. while out west and central USA has large sweeping curves , and minimal tunnels. the power of both engines are amazing especially when you consider the time they were made. what killed steam was the labor intensive maintenance on the engines. coaling and water stations every so many miles, on the old NYC they had “on the fly’ water pick up locations. What a great video, hope all is well, take care and stay healthy. barry

Dave, I'm just glad you are enjoying yourself and are willing to show others what you enjoy. That horn was something else and the guy blowing it was a master at his craft.

Magnificant catches of the steam locomotive, I like it 5 stars, keep up the great work, my friend, i subscribed your channel, Greetings from Portugal to the USA.

Excellent video Dave, looks like a fun ride.

Oh boy Dave anything with steam is right up my alley. Thanks for a awesome video.👍

What an awesome ride. Thanks for taking us along Dave!

Great engine! I wish whoever is building that new PRR T-1 Duplex would get it done. Now that's something!

That's a great video. The train yard and machine shop are located in Ridgeley, WV. I live right beside it and see (or at least hear it!) every day.

Fantastic. That locomotive is massive the cab looks like a ballroom LOL. Love the sound in the tunnel, like you the only music I want to hear is made by the loco and train. I have heard with Big Boy they had to clear the cinders with bulldozers every so often I bet this loco could give them a run for their money.

When I was a little kid back late 1950's staying at my grandparents' house up on Walnut St. in Cumberland I can remember those steam whistles when I was lying in bed late at night or early in the morning., especially on a rainy or foggy day when the sound seems to carry a lot farther. Boy does this bring back memories! About 25 years ago before it was called the Western Maryland Scenic Railroad it was called the Allegheny Central Railroad. I don't remember what the steam engine number was. We rode it first time when our kids were little. It had rained a bit in the morning. It took 3 attempts to get up that grade to Frostburg. The engineer said this is what happens when you get your sand wet!

What a beautiful train

Nice trip Dave, looked like a good ride. Can't beat steam power. Must say I'd rather hear a Southern whistle but I kinda got use to hearing the Norfolk-Western sound. Just makes me think of steam boat. lol! Thanks my friend.

It's amazing how something that big with so many moving parts can work so efficiently ... Thx Dave ... Enjoyed it very much ... You looked like an old chunk of coal and proud of it 🤣😅😂

Great video Dave. I love the sounds of steam locomotives. Do they remind first time travellers of the cinder hazard? Lol. Have a great day my friend.

Just looking at the size of the wheels drivers compressors etc you get an appreciation of the size of how you got the big horsepower in those days versus the newer GEs and EMDs today. Just listening to the exhaust and then seeing the smoke and steam curling through the tunnel just brings it alive that much more Great weather through Scenic Countryside and you feel like it was back in the early fifties. Ah yes, those pesky cinders can't get more realistic

My engineer sir. Your one video is beautifull and different from your other videos. Happy journey for your cab ride on 1309 steam train. ❤️

Real nice video Dave. I rode that line quite a few times in the late 80s and early 90s most recently in 2016 (rode in the caboose, unfortunately a rock slide closed off part of the line and we couldn't go all the way to Frostburg). I'm assuming that water column was recently installed as I don't remember it being there before. Thanks Jim

I love it there's a restored workhorse of the type that served the coal fields so long and well. In the hills and hollows the 2-6-6-2, not the speed kings, ruled the roost.

Great video! Awesome locomotive! I'd like to see an Allegheny locomotive restored to operating condition.

Steam powah alright! Very exciting Dave, great footage! 1309 is such a pretty locomotive. I love the WM logo, very unique!

Great job! Only thing better would have been having the camera right by a set of driver wheels to catch them rods, drivers and steam cylinders at work. Thanks for taking us!

So cool that locomotive was made the month and year I was born. I should try to go for a ride someday.

Great to see that locomotive alive. Great video. Thanks

It is neat how they purge out the water from the drive cylinders. steam is compress able while water is not. I wonder what is the consumption of rate of the water & coal during a trip that you took. great job Dave, enjoy your great videos so much, thank you. barry

Perfect timing Dave. Was just starting lunch when your post came up. She's a beauty all right! Love that exhaust beat (especially in the tunnel) and there's no excuse for not hearing her coming 🙂 Thanks for the ride!

looks real similar to a unit on display in Proctor MN which operated on the DMIR

That’s so cool

That is a mighty fine locomotive, quite impressive and with a beutiful sounding whistle.

That was awesome Dave reminds me of when the Union Pacific Big Boy 4014 visited Southern California in October 2019 and I got to see it and pace it when it left. I have a few short videos of it that I posted although I’m not the best at doing that kind of stuff. I enjoy your videos and I subscribed to both your channels

Thank you for another great ride on a steam locomotive Dave! It is great to see all of the enthusiasts following the locomotive too.

My Grandfather was a pipe fitter on K4's etc. at the Altoona shops. He took great pride in his work. I know he worked on 1361 that sat at the Horseshoe curve for years.

I rode in the cab of 1309 this past summer.

1309..unique.

You're like a kid in a candy store Dave. LOL.. That steam loco is awesome X 2!!! It's so gizmo-ey!!! And you got to sit in the driver's seat. Looking at the cab you can tell it takes a lot of skill to operate that loco. And it seems so quiet when moving along. I'm willing to bet you saved some of that ash didn't you... I got my eye on you Dave..👁 Also subbed Pappy's channel. This is a train I'm def going to have to do if I can this next summer. 😆😁👍👍👍

Great video Dave,and was that locomotive just built for going over the Sand Patch from Cumberland to Connellsville

Love this beauty. Do you know which engine was running the B&O line across southern Ohio through Guernsey county in the 1960's?

its funny when you're on the right hand curve and everyone's popping out the windows like prarie dogs to catch a pic of the engine, and cinders...thats railroad'in, thanks

the 2662 mallet engines were huge, powerful, and amazing! personally I think that they are better design then the “big boy” 4884 engine. was this excursion in west Virginia? you make these events so enjoyable, all the information that you bestow on the viewers is always facts that you were not aware of , thanks so much, have a great night, and be safe out there!

LOL! Timing is everything sometimes. A comment was made about the LARGE size of 1309 at the same time a head-shake / flabbergasted / "HUGE" expression was taking place. 🤣

That's got to be the most recognizable laugh in railfanning.

What an awesome vacation, with all of these train excursions. I know what I’ll be doing if my bank says that I can go. Major Thankage Dave.