Super 8 sound movies of the Western Maryland under Chessie ownership at Cumberland, Helmstetter's Curve, Frostburg, Keystone Viaduct, Salisbury Viaduct. Donations appreciated: www.gofundme.com/f/railroad-m...
Thanks so much for this brief trip back into history and my own youth. I was born in Cumberland (1952) and lived in Cresaptown and then Rawlings until 1967. I was a train aficionado in those days and would go to the tracks in Rawlings where both the B&O and Western Maryland ran. I still remember the thrill I got as a young boy when I saw that bright light in the distance that announced a train was coming. The roar of the engines and the sounds of the steel wheels on the rails as the cars passed by was music to my ears. I remember one time when there was an employee stationed in the small shed at the crossing and I spent hours listening to him talk while he played opera on his portable radio. Those were the days.
@@oldgoat142 Yes. I agree. Sometimes I think of how much better if I had the wisdom of today when I was back there. I may even had gotten the girls to like me. 😁
So thankful for folks that filmed this, made it happen. Western Maryland made good locomotive purchases. An awesome trestle and lots of Western Maryland striped F units. And, GM, SD40s were tremendous engines.
I like watching these old RR films showing the way the Western Maryland kept freight moving with rolling stock without graffiti all over the them. Having more than enough horsepower to push the trains up the hills around bends just keep everything moving. Thanks for uploading this entertaining show of what it was like in 1975!!
A lot of this footage features track that is now part of the GAP Trail. I encourage anyone who can do it, to ride it. A few years ago, my daughter and I took Amtrak from Pittsburgh to Cumberland, camped for the night, took WMSR up to Frostburg the next morning, and then biked on to Pittsburgh in five days, camping along the way. Great trip for railfans and history buffs, beautiful country for anyone.
Love Love Love The Western Maryland, B&O and C&O and the Chessie System era and would have loved to live around the Helmsteters curve area and/or the Salisbury viaduct area in Myersdale Pennsylvania growing up!! Thanks for sharing this!!
I grew up in Midland, Maryland (population 500?). When we heard the train coming, we use to sprint down to the tracks and put nickels on the rails. The trains would flatten them out to the size of quarters. After that, we could use them in the pinball machines at my grandfather’s restaurant.
My sister and her family lived in Bucks County in the late '60s and early '70s. I loved visiting and seeing the GG-1s and Metroliners speed by under the catenary. I'm from AZ and we had nothing like that here.
Great stuff .. brings back memories. The WM basically ran through our backyard in Cash Valley. The railroad was our "playground" from pre to late teen years, especially the Rock Cut area. Thanks for some great footage.
WM really got the short end of the stick when it came to preservation. So much of their lines other than what makes up WMSR and a handful of other bits have since been pulled up after merging into B&O.
I grew up in Mt Savage and we use to go up to the mainline and climb and play along the deep cuts. And watch the trains go by. I wish I had footage of when the western Maryland would go down the old C&P main line to the brick works ai Zilman and Mt Savage when they did the switching on the C&P.
Sometimes I wish the Western Maryland would have been the dominant railroad in those days, just imagine what it would be these days and what name it would be under if it bought out the B& B&O and C&O instead of the other way around The Western Maryland & Ohio railroad maybe 😂 and what the Paint scheme on the locomotives would look like these days ,I just miss those days I suppose!!
If I found the right area, it looks like the bridge the videographer is standing on in the opening shot was removed and the tracks are no longer there. Bridge the train is passing over on is still there though. I think the opening shot is probably my favorite, all the intertwining Appalachian road/railroad infrastructure is always fascinating to see. You have to appreciate the amount of planning that probably went into it, with all the rivers and hilly terrain posing a lot of challenges.
The Western Maryland was a strange railroad to be included in the merger (I know the B&O has controlling interest in it and that’s why it was part of the merger) the WM only seemed to use their own power on their trains and hardly painted any of them in Chessie livery
chessie was in no hurry to paint locos. chessie would put any engine through the wash rack. most WM locos made it to CSX in their WM paint. back in 1979, in cincy, the B&O stockyards,,,,,,,they put a red WM SD40 through the wash rack, then immediately onto the turn table. the water made the red/white/black colors come to life,,,for about 3 minutes, until the water dried the engine looked brand new.
The WM also used RDG power and N&W power over most of their main lines between Connelsville, Cumberland, Hagerstown, and Harrisburg during the period where the WM was active, but under C&O/B&O control, which helped limit the need for more new power that would have received Chessie paint. Some trains going to and from from Connellsville would be all N&W high nose geeps and Alcos, with maybe a WM unit in the lead if they felt like they needed it.
Surprised at the dearth of F units on the Western Maryland. And to think Chessie System never painted any of them in the striking modern scheme, but instead, got rid of them.
WM had the last intact fleet of F units. i saw the last 2 WM Fs in freight operation running in a coal train from DC to baltimore. 1979. the NRHS national convention in baltimore was holding a farewell to the WM F7s event in baltimore. i saw them being engines 3 and 4 on that coal train. you can google this event(excursion) and see them in action. 1 of them burned out a traction motor on the excursion. also to note, the WM F7s were in great shape. WM took care of them.
@@tommythomason6187 in 1979, i was at cincy,,,b&o yard,,,stockyards. they just put a red/black SD40 through the wash rack, then they turned it on the turntable. for the next 2-3 minutes the paint was amazing. the water made the colors stand out like it was brand new. until the water dried. i took 4 photoes(on the table) until the water dried and it didn't look as good.
@@jeffreymcfadden9403 Their red and black scheme was their best. And, they made wise locomotive choices. Those SD40s were real workhorses. Took me a while to figure out the differences between the SD40 and SD40-2. SD40-2 was longer, with more raked out axles and longer "porches."
Love seeing old footage of the Western Maryland Railway from Cumberland to Connellsville during its final years, especially the one crossing the Salisbury Viaduct. Just a question for anyone who remembers the railroads in the Cumberland area, what was that railroad that left the B&O at the north end of the Narrows, crossed Wills Creek as a bridge and Maryland Route 36 as a road crossing, and passed under the Western Maryland mainline under that bridge at the beginning of the video? Where did it go?
Looks like that long bridge was double track at one time as was a lot of locations. Didn't realize the WM needed helper service. Would be great for DPU now days.
All bridges (and maybe tunnels too?) on the WM were graded for double track, but the traffic never materialized enough to double track the whole Conellsville extension. Since the WM was built after the B&O they had the rougher route over the Alleghenies. (More curves, steeper grades.)
@@RailroadMediaArchive Actually, B&O had steeper grades than the WM. WM's Connellsville line had a max grade of 1.75%, whereas the B&O's parallel line over Sand Patch had grades up to 2%. WM's route was the better engineered of the two, it's only downfall being that it was single track and B&O was double track.
What's the bridge ove the creek n the rd at :25. Wow love the circus paint on the helper engine. N great horn show. Where's the other locations after Myersdale?
At 4:35… surely those boys didn’t walk that entire viaduct? That’s a risky move, right there. Assuming that they did, they got to the other end safely at the right time. Had they decided to stop and enjoy the view halfway across, that could have ended badly for both of them
9:03 I have to say that that chessie diesel pushing on the back of that Western Maryland train is very odd looking I'm assuming this Western Maryland engine originally had a high nose Western Maryland chopped it but didn't lower the nose enough to make it look like a factory job
Because the 1970s diesel exhaust stripped the trees of all their leaves along the right-of-way (just kidding...) This film was labeled July, but I wondered that too -- that it actually was earlier in the year.
Most WM Connellsville extension footage was filmed in April 1975 because the rail fans who were up to speed knew that the line would officially be severed by Chessie by May. And at higher elevations e.g. Laurel Highlands you don’t see guaranteed foliage until as late as late May.
@@RailroadMediaArchive the very long one? The one in Cumberland still exist. I've rode on the Scenic Railroad Train and recognize some of the route in the video. Would.of loved to have seen some Frostburg footage.
The Salisbury viaduct is alive and well but now carries the GAP ( great Allegheny passage ) over US219 , the CSX main and the river. It is just west of Meyersdale Pa. The GAP trail goes from Pittsburgh to Washington and is nicely graded. You can still see some comm and signal poles and signal tubs and signal foundations along the path. There is a nice museum in the depot at Meyersdale.
The line was officially severed at Ohiopyle late April 1975 where the paved road underpasses (the girders over the low Yough crossing were cut out). A similar event would occur at Confluence. The eventual GAP trail replacement bridge at OP is now arched to accommodate for higher clearance over the roadway. WM continued to use the Connellsville ext from the B&O junctions at west end Ohiopyle and just east of Confluence, until most of the main tracks were taken up ‘77-78.
May 11, 1975 was the last daylight WB train to run the entire sub. I assume the same date for EB. Penn DOT actually accelerated the abandonment by removing the bridge over their new road in OhioPyle before an excursion dubbed the last WM train made its run. Ironically, that train was pulled by a steam generator equipped B&O GP7. Not sure why they couldn't have pulled out the WM's steam generator car for the run. That two car passenger train detoured over to the B&O at the new Ohiopyle connection.
@@jeffreymcfadden9403 Which many felt was pretty short sighted on Chessie's part. The WM grade up Savage Mt. to Deal was lower than the B&O's to Sandpatch.
